Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom Will Certify Nominations of Treg Taylor and Jose Tagle

Today Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced that the Division of Elections will certify Treg Taylor’s nomination for Governor and Jose Tagle’s nomination for State Representative for District 22.

On August 31, the Lieutenant Governor announced that she would not certify those nominations after the Alaska Public Offices Commission recommended against certification under 2 AAC 50.850(h). The Department of Law has since provided this office with an initial, independent review of candidates’ public official financial disclosure statements. That informal review identified numerous potential discrepancies between filed statements and public records. The department stated that the review is preliminary and is not a determination that any specific candidate violated AS 39.50.

On the basis of that additional information, the Lieutenant Governor will certify the two candidates.

“The Department of Law’s informal review has raised questions about the recommendations made on August 31,” said Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. “I will not withhold certification from two candidates on recommendations that, in light of this additional information, I cannot apply with confidence across the field of candidates. Certification decisions have to rest on a process that can be defended as to every candidate.”

The department provided an initial working draft of the same information to the Commission on Thursday evening. The Commission has not acted to reconsider its recommendations despite the need to finalize the ballots. The Division of Elections will now update the certified list of candidates, including the governor and lieutenant governor pairing under AS 15.25.100.

Media Contact: Tetyana Robbins, tetyana.robbins@alaska.gov