By SUZANNE DOWNING
March 13, 2026 – A candidate who recently switched her voter registration from nonpartisan to Republican in order to challenge Eagle River Rep. Jamie Allard has publicly attacked Allard for casting the same vote taken by every actual Republican in the Alaska House.
Ruby Jones, who entered the District 23 race earlier this year as a nonpartisan before switching to Republican, criticized Allard on social media for opposing a vote unlocking money for the state’s proposed supplemental budget. That vote was to raid the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Jones claimed Allard “voted against Alaska jobs and prosperity” by opposing what she described as a $70 million state match that would unlock roughly $700 million for transportation projects across Alaska.
“These projects support roads, bridges, airports, and the infrastructure our economy depends on,” Jones wrote. “The $70 million transportation match should never have been caught up in broader budget fights.” Word from the Department of Transportation is that Jones has it all wrong.
The vote Jones lied about was not a stand-alone infrastructure funding measure, but was tied to a broader maneuver by the Democrat-led House majority to access Alaska’s primary savings account.
On Thursday, House leadership attempted to move money out of the CBR and into the general fund as part of the supplemental budget process. The transfer required a three-quarter vote of the House.
Every Republican in the House minority, including Allard, voted against accessing the CBR. The exception was the two Republicans who caucus with the Democrats to keep Democrats in power: Louise Stutes and Chuck Kopp.
The minority’s reasoning was straightforward: the Spring Revenue Forecast from the Department of Revenue was scheduled to be released the very next day. That forecast would provide the most current picture of how much money the state actually had available.
Rather than wait a few hours for updated numbers, the majority pressed forward with the vote.
Republicans all supported the supplemental budget itself, which funds items like disaster response, Department of Transportation costs, and other expenses already incurred, but declined to participate in tapping the savings account before seeing the new revenue data.
When the forecast arrived Friday, it showed the state could expect an additional $300–$400 million in revenue, strengthening the minority’s argument that a rushed draw from savings was unnecessary and that the Democrat majority was trying to pull a fast one.
Jones’ criticism of Allard therefore places her at odds not only with Allard but with the entire House Republican caucus. Her statement effectively endorses the majority’s strategy of accessing the CBR immediately rather than waiting for the updated fiscal outlook.
Not today — House Republican Minority refuses to let Democrats raid Alaska’s savings
The vote board from Thursday’s floor session shows the divide clearly: Republicans uniformly voted “No” on accessing the reserve, while Democrats and members of the majority coalition largely voted “Yes.”
For Eagle River, Jones’ remarks may raise questions about where she actually stands ideologically. While she registered as a Republican after filing as a nonpartisan against Allard, her position on one of the session’s most contentious fiscal votes aligns with Democratic leadership in the House.
In this case, Jones may have shown her hand early in the campaign. Her large-donor supporters include Alaska Laborers Local 341, Teamsters, and an employee of the leftist Alaska Public Interest Research Group. The Laborers is led by Joey Merrick, husband of the turncoat Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick of Eagle River, who is trying to unseat Allard.
Rep. Allard, meanwhile, stood with the rest of the Republican minority in arguing that the Legislature should wait for updated revenue information before dipping into the state’s savings account, a stance that, by Friday afternoon, appeared increasingly justified.
5 thoughts on “Ruby Jones’ attack on Rep. Jamie Allard exposes Jones’ real allegiances to Democrats”
By Eagleriver residents Merrick and Jones example how many residents of EagleriverChugiak-Birchwood-Peter’s creek are Democrats or government dependents. You Republicans would be better off enduring the municipality of Anchorage than making reorganization for the Democrats easier to control Eagleriver which the work would be made easier once Eagleriver exited. The district Allard represents is hard Red. Jones must have gotten a memo she doesn’t stand a chance being an undeclared. But there is enough government dependents who are Republican in Allards district who’ll be more receptive to someone like Jones and Merrick.
Eagleriver-Chugiak csn do whatever it wants. They can exit if they want, I’d support them voting yes. But I disagree with the decision because of its Future risks to losing Eagleriver-Chugiak as a Republican stronghold.
And Allards outspokeness doesn’t serve her well at times to More quieter and government dependent Republicans living in Eagleriver
They tolerate because she is a Republican but their uncomfortableness to her characteristic can increase her vulnerability
Since Jones isn’t going to be clear in what jobs and prosperity is at stake for not raiding the savings accounts. She means government jobs and bureaucrats prosperity
The death to Alaska will be government dependency that we don’t build nor maintain anything that’s not Government
That’s no future to leave to the kids who grow up and are stuck on Alaska.
Red Ruby Jones …….Commie.
Another leftist liar-fraudster. So funny how we see non partisan, undeclared, and even Democrat pretend to be Republican to get elected but you never see anyone pretend to be Democrat. Why is that? Truth, honesty, and integrity are not leftist virtues.