A complaint tied to the Tshibaka-led Accountability Project challenges the Democratic ticket's disclosures

Joel Borgquist, a Republican campaign strategist working with the Kelly Tshibaka-led Alaska Accountability Project, has filed a complaint asking Alaska's campaign-finance regulators to find that Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson failed to properly disclose his business interests.

Johnson, the lieutenant governor candidate running with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, responded Wednesday with a sworn affidavit disputing the complaint's central allegations. He says he owns none of the property at issue and collects no income from it.

The complaint focuses primarily on Wild Air Farm, an Indiana property associated with Johnson's family. It claims Johnson failed to report rental income from the farm, relying on two Indiana magazine articles and stating the allegation "on information and belief."

Borgquist acknowledged in the filing that he had no firsthand knowledge of Johnson's finances. He nevertheless asked the Alaska Public Offices Commission to investigate whether Johnson received income that should have appeared on his Public Official Financial Disclosure statement.

Borgquist filed the complaint personally against Zac Johnson, as well as one against Bernadette Wilson, according to APOC records.

Borgquist runs Red Dirt Campaigns, which describes itself as a political campaign-management firm. He also chairs Keep It Alaska, a conservative independent-expenditure group.

Johnson's attorney, Scott Kendall, filed a sworn affidavit and legal response asking the commission to dismiss the complaint "in its entirety."

Johnson said Wild Air Farm belonged to his late grandmother and remains part of her estate. He said he signed a lease involving the property only through a power of attorney granted by the estate's executor.

"I collect zero income or compensation from WAF," Johnson wrote. He said any rent associated with the property goes to the company or estate, not to him personally.

Johnson's disclosure nevertheless contains one point that may require further explanation. It describes his role at Wild Air Farm as "Partner," while his affidavit says he has no ownership interest in the property or business.

The complaint also questions Johnson's reporting of income from a family trust. Johnson disclosed the trust's income but entered "N/A" when asked to describe his interest. He said he used that description because he has no authority over how the trust is managed or invested.

The dispute therefore turns partly on whether Johnson's original disclosure accurately communicated the nature of those relationships, even if his sworn statements establish that he personally receives no farm income.

Borgquist's complaint asks APOC to apply the same financial-disclosure standard it recently applied to Taylor. The commission voted 4-1 in August to recommend against certifying Taylor after finding that his disclosure had not substantially complied with state law by the statutory deadline.

Kendall rejected that comparison. He argued that Taylor declined to identify sources responsible for approximately $1 million in reported rental income, including after regulators directed him to provide the information. Johnson, Kendall wrote, disclosed the interests identified in the complaint and has now explained their nature under oath.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom initially announced that she would not certify Taylor's nomination, then reversed that decision days later after the Department of Law identified potential inconsistencies in other candidates' disclosures.

Johnson's case arrives at a different procedural stage. The general-election ballot has already been certified with Johnson on it, and the complaint itself does not change that status. APOC must first decide whether the case qualifies for expedited treatment before it can reach the merits or consider any potential consequences.

Kendall also objected to the accelerated schedule. He wrote that Johnson received barely 24 hours' notice of Thursday's commission session and lacked sufficient time to gather estate documents from Indiana. The complaint itself had been served on Johnson in person Sunday afternoon.

Borgquist filed a parallel complaint against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson. That filing alleges that Wilson reported Denali Disposal only as her salaried employer, although an attached corporate filing identifies her as president, director, shareholder and 75% owner. It also asks APOC to investigate whether any Denali customers should have been reported as income sources, while acknowledging that Borgquist does not possess the company's customer records. Wilson's official disclosure lists her as Denali's full-time general manager but does not separately describe an ownership interest. No comparable response from Wilson appeared in the commission materials available Wednesday.

The commission will meet in a special session at 12:30 p.m. Thursday to decide whether to expedite either complaint. If commissioners grant expedited consideration, the official notice says a hearing on the merits could immediately follow.

Until then, APOC has made no finding that either Johnson or Wilson violated Alaska's financial-disclosure law.