Political group attacks South Anchorage Assembly candidate from both left and right with contradictory mailers Both mailers were paid for by the same political group, Friends of the Good Guys. Campaign mailers sent by Friends of the Good Guys have pit Anchorage Assembly South Anchorage incumbent Zac Johnson against opponents Janelle Sharp and Bruce Vergason. A newly formed political group with little information about its funding or expenditures sent a pair of contradictory“The timing seems pretty intentional to allow them to conceal some information,” said Zac Johnson, who is running for a second term representing South Anchorage on the Assembly, and is the target of attack in both messages. One mailer accuses Johnson of being too progressive, providing a “rubber stamp” for “far-left politics and political theater,” and urges recipients to support candidate Bruce Vergason, extolling his fiscal conservatism. The second mailer accuses Johnson of hiding his “far-right, conservative voting record” and support for “the MAGA Agenda.” The back side includes rhetoric encouraging voters to cast their ballot for Janelle Sharp, the field’s third candidate, saying she “wants to make Anchorage a safer, kinder, stronger community,” that “Anchorage must fund public schools for success,” and that “we must protect working families by lowering costs and investing in affordable/attainable housing.” The mailers were. It filed paperwork with the Alaska Public Offices Commission earlier this month, and so has not had to disclose its donors or expenditures until this week, seven days before the April 7 election deadline. Critical messaging is normal in local races, particularly in the three-week window between ballots arriving at residents’ homes and when they are due back to election officials for tabulation. For residents curious about who paid for the glossy mailers arriving at their homes telling them their elected representative was too far right or too far left, there’s very little public information.There are a few clues in the paperwork filed with the state. In its group registration filing, Friends of the Good Guys describes its purpose as “Informing voters about their local government representatives and political candidates.” The administrator for the group is Cheryl Frasca, who headed Anchorage’s Office of Budget and Management under mayors Dan Sullivan and Dave Bronson and has handled campaign finances for many prominent conservative and Republican political candidates over the years. Frasca is also the treasurer for Sharp’s Assembly campaign. “Cheryl is my treasurer and reconciles all of my APOC reporting. That’s the extent of her role for my campaign,” Sharp wrote in a text message Monday. “Neither I nor my campaign have coordinated with that group. I didn’t know about the mailer until I saw it posted publicly.”All three of the group’s top donors are local business owners registered as Republicans in state voter records. Friends of the Good Guys’ chairman is Josh York, who did not respond to messages, either.latest campaign finance reports , a time when many candidates are typically aggressively fundraising to pay for late-stage campaign messaging. Though she reported spending $2,154 related to campaign signs, none of the expenditures listed in her APOC report include direct mail materials.In the same fundraising period, Vergason reported $25,039 in contributions. Among the donors were the Republican women’s clubs of both Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, as well as a $5,000 contribution from Kari Ellsworth, one of the co-owners of the Anchorage Wolverines hockey team. Vergason’s largest expenditure was $6,590 for campaign consulting and services to Optima Public Relations, a Wasilla-based political firm.Johnson said he’s confident the goal behind the mailers is to siphon off a share of voters who would likely support him by convincing them that Sharp is the more liberal or progressive option of the three, increasing Vergason’s shot at winning the largest share of votes. “The dishonesty of it is really upsetting,” Johnson said. “This attitude that in politics, the ends justify the means and do whatever it takes to achieve your desired outcomes.”of the three candidates, reporting $50,355 in the period between Feb. 2 and March 6. A relative moderate on the Assembly, Johnson received donations from a number of political action committees representing not just organized labor, but also trade associations in the construction sector. The largest share of expenses in his APOC filing were $15,000 worth of payments to Ship Creek Group, the Anchorage-based firm handling his re-election campaign.Zachariah Hughes covers Anchorage government, the military, dog mushing, subsistence issues and general assignments for the Anchorage Daily News. Prior to joining the ADN, he worked in Alaska’s public radio network, and got his start in journalism at KNOM in Nome.Dear Annie: How do I get boundaries with my in-laws without making my husband feel like he has to choose?Borough mayors say governor’s bill cutting property taxes for Alaska LNG needs ‘a lot of work’