Alaska Democrats sue elections officials after they approved candidate who didn’t disclose finances

A summary sheet is seen during ballot review on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, at the headquarters of the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

The Alaska Democratic Party is suing the Alaska Division of Elections, alleging that officials improperly approved a Republican candidate who failed to disclose his personal finances, as required by state law.

The candidate in question is Jose Anthony Tagle, the lone challenger to Democratic incumbent Rep. Ted Eischeid in Anchorage’s House District 22.

The Alaska Democratic Party challenged Tagle’s eligibility in June after he filed a completely blank Public Officer Disclosure Form alongside his candidacy application. That form is supposed to list all income — including Permanent Fund dividends — that a candidate and their immediate family received during the previous year.

Tagle’s listed no income, including dividends. On social media, Tagle describes himself as a small-business owner, and public records list him as director and president of “Stardust Limited Liability Corp.”

Tagle did not return text messages sent to the phone number listed on his candidacy application. The voicemail box at his number is full and not accepting new messages. 

The Alaska Public Offices Commission has begun censoring phone numbers on financial disclosures, making it impossible to know whether he uses a different number.

His residence address is listed as the Anchors Way Inn in Anchorage, a business he owns. Online reviews of the inn label the location a private residence and a “sham.”

According to the Alaska Democratic Party’s legal complaint, filed last week, the party challenged Tagle’s candidacy because state law requires a candidate “file a statement giving income sources and business interests, under oath and on penalty of perjury.”

Division of Elections director Carole Beecher dismissed the challenge, saying the blank form was the responsibility of the Alaska Public Offices Commission — which controls the form — not the Division of Elections.

In prior lawsuits, the division has examined public records, including hunting and fishing license applications, to determine eligibility.  

“Appellants challenge this determination as arbitrary, unreasonable, inconsistent with the Division’s statutory authority, and in conflict with the Division’s own prior positions regarding its authority to determine candidate eligibility from public records,” the party’s complaint states.

The party has asked for an expedited hearing on the case, and Judge Josie Garton has tentatively scheduled oral arguments for Aug. 7 in Anchorage Superior Court.

The Democratic Party has argued that if the division prevails in the lawsuit, that decision would allow all candidates to file blank disclosure forms, effectively bypassing state law. 

If the Democratic Party prevails in the case, it would be too late for Tagle to be removed from the August primary election ballot, but he could be disqualified from the November general election. If that were to take place, Eischeid may run unopposed, except for any write-in challengers.

• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.