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State House Candidate Willy Keppel Fined For Not Submitting Campaign Finances On Time

Willy Keppel

One of the candidates for State House District 38 is facing a $21,625 fine for not disclosing his campaign finances on time. Willy Keppel, from Quinhagak, blames his failure to submit those reports on poor internet service in rural Alaska. 
Candidates for Alaska’s House of Representatives are required to disclose their sources of funds and campaign expenditures by certain deadlines before the election. For the August primary, Keppel submitted one campaign finance report 10 days late and missed turning in another one altogether. Now the Alaska Public Offices Commission has fined Keppel $21,625. APOC Campaign Disclosure Coordinator Tom Lucas said that the commission has referred the penalty to the Office of the Attorney General for collection. 

Keppel has until Oct. 23 to protest the fine. He said that he has already submitted an appeal. Keppel blames his internet connectivity in Quinhagak for the late and missed reports. He said that he has now mailed physical copies of required campaign disclosure forms to the state.

Keppel does not appear to be running an expensive campaign, according to the single campaign disclosure form that the state did receive. That report showed that 30 days prior to the primary election he had raised $500, all from himself.

Keppel’s opponent Tiffany Zulkosky, on the other hand, raised $8,700 at the same point in her campaign. She’s raised an additional $4,300 since then. All of Zulkosky’s reports arrived at APOC on time.

Greg Kim was a news reporter for KYUK from 2019-2022.
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