State elections office asks court to revisit ruling in Tagle case

The Alaska Division of Elections asked a state judge on Thursday to reconsider an earlier ruling that could bar former Attorney General Treg Taylor from the governor's office even if he wins the Nov. 3 general election. The filing came five days before voters go to the polls.

The petition follows an Oct. ruling by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Josie Garton, who found that the legislative candidacy of East Anchorage Republican Jose Tagle should not have been certified. The Alaska Public Offices Commission had determined that Tagle failed to disclose his financial interests as required by law. Garton's decision did not address Taylor's candidacy, but the petition states the ruling "causes confusion" in the race for governor and asks the court to clarify its application.

The matter traces back to a lawsuit the Alaska Democratic Party filed against the state this summer over Tagle's candidacy. Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom removed Tagle and Taylor from the ballot after the Public Offices Commission found both had violated state disclosure law. Taylor declined to provide the full names of dozens of tenants in his real estate holdings on his Public Official Financial Disclosure paperwork, saying his renters had been harassed and threatened. Dahlstrom reversed course in early September and reinstated both candidates, citing a Department of Law review that identified dozens of other candidates with similar disclosure failures. Some of those candidates called the review flawed and full of errors.

The petition, signed by Department of Law Civil Division Director Rachel Witty, sets out two paths for the court. One would place Candi English, an Anchorage businesswoman, as the Republican nominee for governor with Jodi Taylor as her running mate. The other would disqualify Tagle if he wins his race without vacating his nomination; under that option, the petition states that "If Taylor wins, he would not be certified and English would succeed him." Jodi Taylor's own disclosure also omitted tenant names, and she has appeared at a prior Public Offices Commission hearing in her husband's place.

Taylor criticized the filing on Friday. "If the political establishment wants to beat me, they can make their case to voters," he said in a statement. "That's how elections are supposed to work." He also referenced reporting by The New York Times about a namesake challenger entering the U.S. Senate race against Dan S. Sullivan, writing that "bureaucrats are attempting to kick me off the ballot again."

The Division of Elections and the Department of Law did not respond to a Friday request for comment on the reasoning behind the petition. The race for governor includes Taylor, businesswoman Bernadette Wilson, former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.