New faux Alaska Republican ‘club’ raises $18,000, squanders $13,000 and backs soft-R challenger to Rep. Jamie Allard

By SUZANNE DOWNING

July 20, 2026 – A newly formed political action committee with a name that could easily be mistaken for an official Republican organization raised more than $18,000 during its first several months, but spent nearly three-quarters of it and directed its only candidate contribution to the Republican challenging conservative Eagle River Rep. Jamie Allard.

The Last Frontier Republican Club is not a club or affiliate of the Alaska Republican Party. It has no formal ties to the state party, which has repeatedly endorsed Allard. It is a fake club that just sounds like a club or subdivision of the Alaska GOP.

Instead, it is an independently operated PAC with bit-union affiliated Fred Brown listed as its president. He filed the group’s latest campaign-finance report.

This name “club” is important. Voters and donors encountering the name “Last Frontier Republican Club” might reasonably assume it is connected with the Alaska Republican Party or represents the party’s candidates and priorities. It does not.

Why is Fred Brown targeting Rep. Allard?

The Alaska Republican Party unanimously endorsed Allard in September 2024 and endorsed her again at its August 2025 quarterly meeting. She also has the backing of her local Republican district and several Republican women’s organizations.

Yet the Last Frontier Republican Club PAC went in the opposite direction. If it was affiliated with the party, it would not be able to back Allard’s opponent.

The PAC’s  report shows that Nick Capozzi, who is challenging Allard in House District 23, is the only candidate to receive a contribution from the PAC. The group gave him $1,000 on April 6—the maximum direct candidate contribution the PAC could make.

The filing shows no contributions to Allard or any other candidate.

According to its report, the new PAC took in $18,329.24 between Feb. 5 and July 17. It spent $13,409.98 on parties and decorations during the same period, leaving a difference of $4,919.26.

That means the organization burned through approximately 73% of everything it raised during its first few months in operation.

Only $1,000, or about 7.5% of its expenditures, went directly toward supporting one political candidate. The rest largely went to dinners, events, organizational costs and credit-card fees.

For a new PAC with only one candidate contribution on its books, the pace of spending is not only interesting, but might even be offensive to donors.

The largest expense was $7,796.63 paid to the Petroleum Club of Anchorage for a Feb. 28 dinner reception. The PAC paid another $800 to Brandy Pennington for decorating the event, bringing the dinner’s reported cost to $8,596.63.

It also paid a $1,900 deposit to the Alaska Zoo for another event, $701.11 in credit-card processing fees, $400 for annual website hosting and reported several donated services and printing expenses.

Combined, the Petroleum Club dinner, decorating and Alaska Zoo deposit totaled $10,496.63. That is more than 78% of everything the PAC reported spending.

By comparison, just $1,000 went to electing a candidate. That’s 100% of its campaign spending.

Capozzi was also financially involved with the organization before it gave his campaign the maximum contribution. It looks like a quid pro quo deal.

Capozzi paid the PAC $150 on Feb. 22, $50 on Feb. 24 and $360 on Feb. 28, for a total of $560. This happened before the PAC wrote his campaign a $1,000 check on April 6. Capozzi then gave the PAC another $10 on May 4.

Altogether, Capozzi put $570 into the organization and received $1,000 from it, a net difference of $430 flowing from the PAC to his campaign.

The transaction history does not establish that anything improper occurred. Capozzi’s larger payment coincided with the Feb. 28 Petroleum Club event and may have covered event-related costs. But it does show that Capozzi was financially involved with the new PAC before becoming its sole candidate beneficiary.

Several current and former Republican officeholders also helped finance the organization.

Rep. Julie Coulombe contributed a combined $420 through three payments: $150 on Feb. 7 and payments of $225 and $45 on Feb. 28.

Rep. Bill Elam of Kenai contributed $50 on Feb. 14.

Former state Sen. Shelley Hughes of Palmer gave $1,500. She is running for governor as a Republican. Jodi Taylor, wife of gubernatorial candidate Treg Taylor donated to the PAC.

The filing identifies 55 contributors. Because “Last Frontier Republican Club” could sound like a sanctioned party organization, the question is now whether donors understood that it is an independent PAC with no affiliation to the Alaska Republican Party, whether they understood the goal of the PAC is to unset Allard, and whether they even know that its only candidate contribution by this PAC is opposing a Republican Party-endorsed incumbent.

The Alaska Story is publishing the complete contributor list below. Any donor who believed the PAC was affiliated with the Alaska Republican Party, or who was unaware that it would support Capozzi against Allard, is invited to contact us.

Among the political figures listed are Rep. Julie Coulombe, $420; Rep. Bill Elam, $50; former Sen. Shelley Hughes, running for governor, $1,500; former Sen. Click Bishop, running for governor, $630; and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, $350. Also, Matt Heilala, a Republican running for governor, gave $450 to the fake club.

Karina Waller, identified in the disclosure as state director for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, gave $50. Billy Mackey, identified as a manager for Alaskans for Dan Sullivan, gave $450. Samantha Correia, listed as deputy campaign manager for Shelley Hughes, gave $345. Shannon Mason, listed as campaign manager for Click Bishop, gave $30.

The filing reports the following contributors: