By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 24, 2026 – Gubernatorial candidate Dave Bronson’s running mate says he understands the case for consolidating the Republican field in Alaska’s governor’s race. He also suggested Treg Taylor should be the one to step aside.
On the Michael Dukes Show, lieutenant governor candidate Josh Church acknowledged that Republican Bernadette Wilson finished ahead of Bronson in the August primary. “She did come in first place, and it makes sense for some consolidation,” he said. “So I can understand her position.”
Church then turned to Taylor, who finished fifth and advanced to the general-election field after Democrat Tom Begich withdrew. “If I was in his position, you know, I’d like to think that I would not still be in this race,” Church said.
Church stopped short of directly telling Taylor to withdraw. Still, his message is hard to square with the ads Bronson and Taylor are cutting together urging voters to “rank the red.” If the plan is for voters to rank all three Republicans, why is Bronson’s running mate suggesting one of them should leave?
On the Michael Dukes Show, Alaska lieutenant governor candidate for Dave Bronson suggests what? pic.twitter.com/qhP53bKvRn
— TheAlaskaStory.com (@Downing907) September 24, 2026
Church also misstated Wilson’s primary showing. The results in the accompanying screenshot below show Wilson with 16,468 votes, or 10.02% of all votes cast in a field of 17 candidates.
That’s not what Church said. He said she got 10% of the Republican vote. But with 12 Republican candidates in the race, she actually received 20.27% of the combined 81,228 votes that went to the dozen Republicans. It was the largest share of any Republican candidate. Bronson received 13,364 votes, and Taylor received 11,928.
Republicans have flipped their advice on ranked-choice voting from one election to the next. In 2022, the message was “rank the red.” In 2024, the emphasis shifted to consolidating behind Nick Begich in the US House race, and not ranking.
This year, Bronson and Taylor are again promoting “rank the red” for governor, while Republicans in other races are telling supporters to leave some candidates unranked.
Church has now introduced consolidation back into the governor’s race — but at Taylor’s expense.
There is a practical limit to Church’s suggestion. The general-election ballot is already set, and the candidates cannot now remove their names from it. Taylor, Bronson or Wilson could suspend campaigning and urge supporters to vote for someone else. Their names would still appear on the ballot, leaving voters to decide whether — and how — to rank them.
3 thoughts on “Bronson’s running mate suggests Taylor leave governor’s race, complicating ‘rank the red’ message”
Since Taylor is likely not going to withdraw, Josh Church asking people to “Rank the Red” makes perfect sense. I wish Wilson would do that, too. Didn’t she just ask Bronson and Taylor to withdraw? And we just found out that Peltola’s personal life is relevant to her desire to lead the public in the political arena. Does this apply to Bernadette, too? I will vote for the most mature candidate, and will Rank the Red. I hope every conservative (and I am not a Republican, as most people know), holds their nose and RANKS THE RED.
And that Sir, is why RCV is rotten and needs to go away, 1 person, 1 vote
Actually, Church’s suggestion makes sense when you evaluate the various scenarios. Taylor cannot and will not get elected. The math doesn’t compute for him under any situation. Wilson or Bronson have a chance under the RCV scheme, so long as JKT Democrats don’t hit that 50% +1 target. If Taylor suspends his campaign today and asks his voters to rank the red with Wilson, Bronson, Taylor…….or Bronson, Wilson, Taylor in those orders, Republicans and conservatives could win through the distribution and elimination rounds. Do NOT rank JKT under any circumstances.
Let’s see the Republicans learn to work together to keep our state sane. Otherwise, the insane Democrats will be in control and our children will be so mixed-up through the public education process that they won’t even know if they are boys or girls. That’s where we are at, folks.