FILE – Elon Musk departs after a welcome ceremony with President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has given $1.5 million to a group supporting the repeal of Alaska’s voting system, according to a report filed with the state Friday.
Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the November ballot, seeks to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting method, along with open primaries and campaign finance laws that were themselves adopted by ballot measure in 2020.
Musk gave $1.5 million last month to the Aurora Action Network, a Wisconsin-based political action committee that has already collected contributions from numerous billionaire megadonors, including Dick Uihlein, Jeff Yass, Timothy Mellon and Hilcorp owner Jeffery Hildebrand. Aurora Action Network then gave the repeal campaign $1 million in late July.
Musk’s contribution, which make up a sizable share of the repeal campaign’s fundraising, could prove pivotal for the future of Alaska’s elections.
The ballot measure would revert Alaska to closed partisan primaries and pick-one general elections. It would also eliminate campaign finance laws that enable Alaska voters to know when big spenders like Musk give money to Alaska campaigns.
A group that opposes the ballot measure — and supports the state’s current voting system — continues to have a cash advantage, having raised over $5 million to support its campaign, also from Outside megadonors.
Judy Eledge, the chair of the repeal group who has long championed conservative causes in Alaska, thanked Musk for the contribution in a statement issued Friday.
“It’s hard to even put into words the gratitude that we feel that these titans of industry would show interest in our small state,” Eledge wrote.
This year’s ballot measure is the second attempt to repeal Alaska’s election system by putting it to the voters. A 2024 initiative that would have repealed the state’s open primaries and ranked choice voting system narrowly failed.
