Five years after a federal court ruling introduced unlimited spending in Alaska elections, voters there hit back on Tuesday, defying their Republican governor and approving new limits that restrict the ability of rich donors to bankroll candidates.

Ballot Measure 1, a citizen initiative that caps donations to individual candidates at $2,000 per person per year, with a $4,000 cap on donations to governor-lieutenant governor tickets, passed easily. It leads 71 to 29 percent as of Wednesday morning.

This measure would never have been voted on in the first place, but for the fact that Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy last month vetoed a bill to impose the very caps proposed by Measure 1. Because that bill was substantially similar to Measure 1, the measure would have been cancelled had Dunleavy signed it; his veto ensured the matter would be put to voters, who on Tuesday left no question about where they stand.