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Assembly member George Martinez speaks during a special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on April 23, 2026. (Marc Lester \/ ADN) <\/p>\nAssembly member George Martinez speaks during a special meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on April 23, 2026. (Marc Lester \/ ADN) <\/p>\n
Anchorage Assembly member George Martinez will pay the maximum fines for misusing campaign funds after state regulators said he evaded their questions about how a round-trip flight to Florida was related to his April municipal campaign. <\/p>\n
The Alaska Public Offices Commission, in an order released Thursday, found Martinez\u2019s violations \u201cparticularly egregious\u201d and imposed the maximum penalty permitted. It brought the total amount in fines up from the roughly $4,500 initially proposed by APOC staff to just over $5,300. <\/p>\n
A February complaint submitted to the Alaska Public Offices Commission alleged that Martinez, who represents East Anchorage, had potentially used campaign money for \u201cpersonal benefit.\u201d APOC staff found<\/a> Martinez, during his run for re-election to the Assembly, had spent $1,255 on an \u201cout-and-back\u201d Alaska Airlines flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. <\/p>\n Martinez also contributed $1,000 in campaign funds to Chooose Inc., a company that allows passengers to purchase credits based on the estimated carbon emissions of their flight. Following an investigation, APOC staff found Martinez received 1,500 \u201cstatus points\u201d on his personal Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account in return for the carbon offset. <\/p>\n Staff ultimately determined Martinez\u2019s spending was not \u201creasonably related\u201d to his April municipal election campaign. In a May 5 report, the regulatory agency recommended he reimburse the money spent on the flights and carbon credits and pay an equal amount in fines, for a total of $4,500. <\/p>\n Following a public hearing last week<\/a> on the complaint, commissioners requested higher penalties based on the \u201cdegree of harm to the public.\u201d <\/p>\n The commission found Martinez\u2019s testimony at the June 3 hearing \u201cformulaic and evasive,\u201d Thursday\u2019s final order states. <\/p>\n Attending the meeting virtually and with his camera off, Martinez continued to recite prior written submissions to APOC that stated his flight and donation for emissions credit were related to his campaign, the order states. <\/p>\n To prove he went on what he described as a solo \u201cstrategic planning retreat\u201d conducted aboard flights to and from Florida, Martinez supplied redacted documents he saidhe worked on during his trip, the final order reads. One document, regulators found, was created \u201cwell after the flight was completed.\u201d<\/p>\n Martinez alleged that his trip with connections in Seattle granted him \u201c20 hours of uninterrupted planning time.\u201d His return flight was scheduled to depart about an hour after his arrival in Fort Lauderdale. <\/p>\n He refused to provide a copy of his airline mileage for the year. Instead of admitting he received the rewards points, the order states, Martinez continually stated they were \u201cmerely incidental to the travel.\u201d Commissioners also questioned Martinez about whether he received a status upgrade from the points he earned from the 8,000-mile round-trip flight. <\/p>\n Once again, commissioners said he refused to answer the questions, although Martinez did add that he was a \u201coneworld Emerald Titanium\u201d member, reflecting the highest Atmos Rewards status, according to the Alaska Airlines website<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most troubling aspect of Mr. Martinez\u2019s testimony, however, was his persistent refusal to directly answer simple questions from Commissioners,\u201d the final order states. <\/p>\n