By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 4, 2026 — Anchorage Democrat Rep. Andrew Gray is asking the Alaska Department of Law to criminally prosecute former Attorney General Treg Taylor and his wife, Republican lieutenant governor candidate Jodi Taylor, over allegedly incomplete personal financial disclosures.
Gray, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, made the request in a letter dated Tuesday, Sept. 1 and addressed to Acting Attorney General Cori Mills. He also distributed the letter to reporters, but not this news outlet.
“As the Department of Law continues its quest to prosecute American Samoans in Whittier who mistakenly broke the law, let’s hold former Attorneys General and their spouses to the same legal standards,” Gray wrote.
The letter invokes a criminal provision of Alaska’s financial-disclosure law. Under AS 39.50.060, a person required to file a disclosure who refuses or knowingly fails to provide required information on time, or knowingly submits false or misleading information, may be charged with a misdemeanor. A conviction may carry a fine of between $100 and $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
Gray contrasted the Taylors’ disclosure problems with the Department of Law’s ongoing prosecution of 11 Whittier residents from American Samoa for allegedly voting illegally.
Those defendants have said they received confusing or incorrect information about their eligibility to vote. People born in American Samoa are generally US nationals but are not automatically U.S. citizens, although some become citizens through naturalization or their parents. Alaska law requires a voter to be a U.S. citizen.
Gray argues that Treg Taylor, as a former attorney general familiar with Alaska law, cannot make the same claim of confusion.
“I just feel like it’s a no-brainer,” Gray told the Alaska Beacon, which first reported on the letter. He said it made no sense for the state to prosecute the Whittier defendants while taking no criminal action against a former attorney general accused of knowingly disregarding election-related disclosure requirements.
The request follows a controversy The Alaska Story has reported on since September 2025, when Taylor sought special handling from the Alaska Public Offices Commission for information concerning the Taylors’ substantial rental-property business.
The Taylors own Inlet Towers in Anchorage, a property containing 234 rental units. They have argued that publicly releasing tenants’ full names could expose renters and property managers to harassment.
The financial-disclosure law, however, generally requires candidates to identify people who paid them more than $1,000 during the preceding year unless APOC grants an exemption.
Treg Taylor filed his candidate disclosure June 1. APOC staff contacted him June 17 seeking additional information and issued a deficiency notice July 21. Taylor amended the filing July 27, but the document continued to identify some tenants only by their first names or by a first name and last initial.
The rental income was reported in the category of “$1,000,000 or more” and represented more than half of the income disclosed by Taylor.
APOC voted 4-1 in August to recommend that Taylor not be certified for the November ballot, concluding that his disclosure did not substantially comply with state law within the 30-day period that ended July 1.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom accepted the recommendation Aug. 31 and announced that the Division of Elections would not certify Taylor’s nomination for governor.
“The law, however, is not unclear,” Dahlstrom said. “When a candidate has not complied with Alaska’s financial disclosure requirements within the time required, the Lieutenant Governor may not certify that person’s nomination.”
Taylor disputed the decision, calling it arbitrary and selective enforcement. He also argued that Dahlstrom, who had earlier been a candidate for governor, should have recused herself.
Taylor’s disqualification elevated his running mate, Candi English, into the gubernatorial position on the ticket. English then selected Jodi Taylor as her candidate for lieutenant governor.
Jodi Taylor’s newly filed disclosure reportedly contains abbreviated tenant information similar to that found inadequate in her husband’s filing.
There is an important procedural difference, however: Jodi Taylor still has the statutory period in which to correct or complete her disclosure. No agency has yet determined that she knowingly violated the criminal provision cited by Gray.
The timing presents another complication for election officials. Federal law requires Alaska to begin mailing ballots to military and overseas voters 45 days before the Nov. 3 election. The Division of Elections plans to begin sending those ballots Sept. 18, before the end of Jodi Taylor’s period for amending her filing.
That could leave election officials printing and mailing ballots before her eligibility is conclusively resolved.
The administrative decision against Treg Taylor also did not, by itself, establish criminal intent. APOC and the lieutenant governor concluded that his disclosure failed the “substantial compliance” standard governing ballot certification. A criminal prosecution would separately require the Department of Law to prove that any omission was knowing.
As of Friday, the Department of Law had not publicly responded to Gray’s request. Gray said he was preparing a follow-up public letter.
One thought on “Democrat lawmaker asks Alaska Department of Law to prosecute Treg and Jodi Taylor over financial disclosures”
Real grounds do not make for a good prosecution. Democrats are pissed off because Mrs. Treg is teamed up with an unknown candidate now, which means the Republicans won’t be split three ways. If Bronson finally comes around and unifies in a meaningful way with Bernadette, together they can expect to beat the little QC (queer commie) from Sitka. Won’t that be fun!