By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 30, 2026 – Republican gubernatorial candidate Treg Taylor is condemning what he describes as a renewed effort to disqualify him from Alaska’s election, arguing that voters should decide the race and that he complied with the financial disclosure deadline state regulators provided.
“It’s the state’s job to count the votes, not choose the candidates,” Taylor said in a statement.
The former attorney general said the dispute at hand could undermine confidence in the election and discourage Alaskans from supporting the Taylor-English ticket after voting has already begun.
The controversy revives a fight that briefly knocked Taylor out of the governor’s race in August before Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom reversed course in September.
At its center are two questions: whether Taylor adequately identified the tenants who provide his rental income, and whether he supplied the required information within the legal deadline.
Taylor says he protected tenants
Taylor said he submitted a tenant list with rental amounts, using first names and last initials to protect people who are not seeking public office.
“Let’s be clear: I complied with the deadline provided to me by APOC. I met the requirements,” he said in his statement.
“They are not running for political office and don’t deserve to have their private information published.”
Taylor accused the Alaska Public Offices Commission and election officials of applying the law arbitrarily.
“If the political establishment wants to beat me, they can make their case to voters. That’s how elections are supposed to work,” he said.
The Alaska Story has not found any written order disqualifying him from the ballot, only his response to an order.
APOC’s records describe a longer-running disagreement over Taylor’s disclosure of rental income.
According to an August staff recommendation, Taylor filed his candidate financial disclosure June 1. Staff issued a deficiency notice July 21, received a tenant list by email July 23, and instructed the campaign to upload it through the public filing system. Taylor amended his disclosure July 27.
Staff reported that some tenants were identified by first name and last initial, and others only by first name. The recommendation also said Taylor had previously been directed to submit a written position for commission review if he wanted tenant information withheld from public disclosure.
That chronology is central because Taylor says he met the deadline APOC provided, while the commission found that the statutory correction period expired July 1.
On a 4-1 vote, APOC determined Taylor had not substantially complied within that period and recommended against certifying his nomination. Dahlstrom accepted the recommendation Aug. 31. The Division of Elections cited AS 39.50.060(b), which prohibits certification when a candidate fails to comply within the required time.
On Sept. 4, Dahlstrom restored Taylor and Republican House candidate Jose Tagle Jr. to the general election ballot.
The reversal followed a preliminary Department of Law review that raised questions about possible disclosure deficiencies among other candidates. Dahlstrom said she was concerned that the commission’s scrutiny had been applied unevenly and that certification decisions needed a defensible process across the field.
APOC’s recommendation against Taylor remained in place when she reversed the decision.
The dispute subsequently returned to court through a challenge involving Tagle, who is running against Democratic Rep. Ted Eischeid in House District 22.
In an Oct. 22 decision in Stryker v. Dahlstrom, Superior Court Judge Josie Garton vacated Tagle’s certification, concluding that Dahlstrom could not disregard APOC’s determination that he had missed the statutory disclosure deadline.
Garton directed election officials to notify Tagle of his disqualification and appeal rights while leaving printed ballots intact.
The ruling concerned Tagle but did not vacate Taylor’s certification, although both candidates had been disqualified and reinstated together.
Taylor’s statement also invoked the separate controversy over the recruitment of another Dan Sullivan into Alaska’s US Senate race, portraying both matters as threats to voter confidence.
“Let Alaskans decide,” Taylor said. “Put the politics aside, stop the arbitrary application of the law, and stop trying to game the system.”
2 thoughts on “Taylor blasts renewed ballot threat: ‘It’s the state’s job to count the votes, not choose the candidates’”
Treg Taylor has a 0% chance of winning the governor’s race. He’s only good for one purpose in this election, that is, to be eliminated in the first ballot round and have his votes distributed early to the next highest Republicans.
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Treg probably ought to rank the calories on his daily calorie intake. That photo speaks volumes of gluttony. That meal is off the chart sugar spike. Goodbye pancreas.
What are you the Food Police?
I agreed with your first sentence, until your diatribe about his meal choice. It is snide and immaterial. The man is an adult and can eat what he likes and it’s none of your business. Let us know why you believe he has no chance to win instead.