Defend Our Constitution is an Alaska-based single-issue advocacy group that opposes a state constitutional convention. [1] The group is officially nonpartisan, but is led by prominent Democratic politicians. In addition, the group has ties to left-of-center special interest groups such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Arabella Advisors, and Planned Parenthood. [2]
Founding
Defend Our Constitution was founded in 2021 to oppose Alaska’s periodic referendum on whether to hold a constitutional convention. It was chaired by a Democrat, former Juneau mayor and state attorney general Bruce Botelho. [3] In addition, nine of the group’s board members were previous employees of Ship’s Creek Group, a Democratic-aligned consulting firm. [4]
Activities
The group funded and directed ad campaigns on television, radio, newspapers, and social media, as well as distributing mailers, fliers, and yard signs, in opposition to the ballot measure. [5] The measure was defeated by a margin of 69.8 percent to 30.2 percent in the 2022 midterm elections. By August 2022, Defend Our Constitution had spent $278,000 campaigning against the measure, compared to only $5,000 by the main pro-convention group, ConventionYes. [6]
Abortion featured heavily in the campaign, as the Dobbs decision raised concerns that a constitutional convention might be used to enshrine abortion restrictions in the state constitution. [7] Defend Our Constitution lists abortion provider Planned Parenthood as one of its partner organizations. [8]
Funding
Despite stating concerns about outside special interest groups as one reason for its existence, Defend Our Constitution listed D.C-based national organizations as its three top contributors: Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center funding intermediary, and two government-worker labor unions, the National Education Association and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). [9]
Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is managed by the left-of-center consulting firm Arabella Advisors, donated $500,000 to Defend Our Constitution in July 2022, accounting for 61 percent of all contributions to the group. [10]