On Friday, August 28, 2026, the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) voted 4–1 to recommend that Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom not certify Treg Taylor’s nomination for governor on the general election ballot now that Tom Begich has withdrawn his candidacy. Today, August 31, Lt. Gov. Dahlstrom agreed with APOC and decided she will certify Taylor’s nomination. The decision followed a fight over what counts as substantial compliance with financial disclosure requirements—specifically Taylor’s June 1, 2026, annual Public Official Financial Disclosure (POFD)—and what reasonable actions can be taken to protect Alaskans’ privacy.
In its decision, APOC claimed that “as of July 1, 2026, Mr. Taylor’s statement did not identify any person who paid rent. Identifying income as rental income over $1,000,000—with no further information about how many tenants provided rental income or the names of those tenants—does not sufficiently identify the ‘source’ of the income.”
APOC stated that when Taylor received an exemption in 2025, he also could have formulated a written request to withhold the names, but did not. Taylor was then issued a meeting notice on August 12, 2026, and told the matter would be taken up on August 26, 2026—three days before the withdrawal deadline after the August 18 primary.
Nowhere in the official decision did APOC default to the constitutional right of privacy of the tenants whose information would have been exposed.
During the August 26 hearing, the commission reviewed the 2025 exemption that allowed the Taylor campaign to upload information by alternative means. APOC restated that it updated its system to accept electronic uploads for rental income in October 2025. On July 21, 2026, APOC gave Taylor a July 27 deadline to update his disclosure, stating that doing so would avoid formal action that could lead to non-certification. Taylor amended his disclosure on July 23, 2026. APOC acknowledged that tenant information was added. The recommendation for non-certification still moved forward.
Must Read Alaska contacted the Taylor campaign for clarification on its communications with the commission. Between 2025 and 2026, the content of the submission had not changed: the source of rental income included the total number of tenants and their first names. In 2025, Taylor argued that disclosing private information about his tenants would infringe on their right to privacy. The campaign argues that voters had the relevant information 22 days before casting ballots in the primary, and that APOC identified no public harm.
In its decision, APOC stated: “In recent times, staff have not prepared a list of candidates who have not filed completed disclosure statements. Director Hebdon testified that after deficiencies in one candidate’s financial disclosure statement were brought to staff’s attention, staff conducted a review of all candidates’ financial disclosure statements.”
Must Read Alaska has requested clarification from APOC on what constitutes “recent times” and which previous candidate triggered the full review. APOC even notes that a recommendation not to certify is not the only enforcement action available, indicating other penalties or remedies exist besides going straight to non-certification.
At the August 26 hearing, Jodi Taylor represented the campaign but was denied the ability to have campaign counsel present, raising due-process concerns. According to the campaign, attorney Richard Moses submitted a waiver seeking to postpone the hearing so he could appear. APOC denied the waiver. Must Read Alaska has asked APOC for clarification on that denial and has not yet received a response.
Read the primary source document, APOC’s Recommendation on Certification:
