Alaska Democrats ask APOC to recommend removing House District 22 candidate from ballot

Whether Republican Jose Roel Antonio Tagle Jr. stays on Northeast Anchorage's House District 22 ballot through the Nov. 3 general election now turns on the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Under its published policy, the commission determines compliance and recommends removal; it doesn't strike a candidate itself. Voters there have two certified candidates: Tagle and Democrat Ted J. Eischeid.

The Alaska Democratic Party filed complaint 26-11-POFD with the commission on Aug. 10, asking it to recommend that the Division of Elections remove Tagle from the general election ballot, not the Aug. 18 primary. The complaint alleges Tagle's Public Official Financial Disclosure, submitted the same day he filed for office on June 1, listed no income, business interests, loans or debts, leases or close economic associations. It further alleges Tagle failed to disclose a 40% stake in Stardust Limited Liability Corporation, two Anchorage lodging operations, a child support lien of $2,296.16 recorded in 2023, and a default judgment of $2,659.56. "Tagle's POFD listed no information whatsoever, other than his name, his spouse's name, and the fact that he has two dependent children," the party's attorneys wrote. "To the extent Tagle could have amended his POFD to correct these errors, that time has passed."

The same Division of Elections candidate list that certified Tagle shows Republican Sarah D. Short denied a spot in House District 13, with the division's annotation reading "POFD was not on file by the deadline."

The Division of Elections noticed the Tagle filing itself. According to the complaint, its Election Program Manager emailed the commission on June 8 with the disclosure attached, saying it appeared "blank" online. Eleven days later, Director Carol Beecher denied the party's eligibility complaint, concluding the grounds were "beyond the scope of DOE's review" and that Tagle had timely filed a disclosure, "any review of which would be within APOC's authority."

That conclusion sits against the division's own policy, CF-1, effective June 24, 2025, which requires disclosures be filed by 5 p.m. June 1 with all requested information provided. Griffin Deitz, an assistant attorney general representing the division in the party's court appeal, argued that submitting a form satisfies the requirement even if blank. Statutes allow a correction window, he said, and substantive review belongs to the commission.

On Aug. 8, 68 days after the deadline, Tagle amended his disclosure. The updated filing reported Permanent Fund dividends, spouse self-employment income of $20,000 to $50,000 at Anchors Way Inn, a stockholder and director interest in Stardust Limited, and Alaska child support as a creditor. His stated reason: "When initially filed, there was a glitch in all my saved history was not submitted."

Tagle has filed a substantive disclosure before. Running for House District 20 in 2020, he reported salaried income of $50,000 to $100,000 from Alarcon and Associates LLC, a Permanent Fund dividend and a child support debt. Alarcon and Associates LLC reappears in 2026 as a 30% shareholder of Stardust Limited.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Josie Garton issued a decision in the party's appeal on Aug. 12 and closed the case. The decision itself isn't in the record, and the docket doesn't show who prevailed or what was ordered. The party said in an Aug. 13 statement that the court left the question to the commission.

"The Division of Elections has decided it wants to keep its head in the sand, and the court concluded that it is up to APOC to clean this mess up," said Jenny-Marie Stryker, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party and a named appellant. "Mr. Tagle's blank disclosure left voters in the dark for months."

The primary is Aug. 18. Both the certification target and the general election withdrawal deadline fall on Aug. 31, leaving the commission 13 days to act.