Former Alaska Attorney General and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Treg Taylor issued the following statement after Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom decided to deny his certification for the general election ballot— a decision adhering to a recommendation from APOC. Read our coverage of the decision here: Compliance law clashes with constitutional right to privacy in Treg Taylor non-certification decision.
APOC’s unprecedented decision to recommend my removal from the ballot represents the worst of the unelected bureaucracy: massive authority with no accountability.
They decided an issue that should have been left to Alaskan voters to decide. The arbitrary and capricious manner in which APOC exercised its discretion to recommend my removal from the general election ballot, after allowing me to go through the primary election with the very same alleged defect, reeks of selective enforcement and offends due process.
The Lieutenant Governor, who should have recused herself from the decision due to her participation as a candidate in the gubernatorial race, has set a precedent that will haunt Alaska elections well into the future.
Over the years, I have witnessed countless Alaskans who simply tried to engage in the political process receive threatening letters from APOC, discouraging those same Alaskans from participating in the future instead of simply helping them comply with filing requirements.
Because of the Lieutenant Governor’s decision, APOC has now been further weaponized to determine our elections. At a time when public trust in elections is at an all-time low, APOC abused the discretion it was entrusted with and further eroded the very system that ensures our democracy.
At a time when it is already extremely difficult to get good people to run for office, that task has now become infinitely harder. After all, if they can remove me—someone who made a good-faith effort to file the required information by the statutory deadline but could not get the document to submit because of APOC’s own system, and who then successfully filed the required information by the deadline set by APOC—this can happen to anyone.
Today, I was robbed of the ability to decide for myself whether to move forward in this race or stand down in an effort to put Alaska first.
To everyone who stood with me throughout this campaign, donated, volunteered, knocked doors, made calls, shared our message, and simply believed in what we were fighting for: thank you. I am deeply grateful for your support and for every Alaskan who was willing to stand up and make their voice heard.
