By admin 
Three of the four remaining Alaska gubernatorial candidates discussed subjects ranging from the hard numbers that quantify the state’s fiscal challenges to more esoteric topics like quality of life on Tuesday in their first face-to-face meeting since a post-primary shakeup changed the field.
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Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat, and former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and former Attorney General Treg Taylor, both Republicans, pitched their visions for state leadership at a candidate forum held by the Last Frontier Republican Club.
It was a friendly audience for him and Taylor, Bronson noted at the event, held at the Petroleum Club of Anchorage.
“I’m assuming most folks in the room, except for maybe the media, are Republicans,” Bronson said.
It was the first post-primary forum for Taylor, who moved from the fifth to fourth spot on the open ballot after Democrat Tom Begich withdrew from the race. Among the 17 gubernatorial candidates in the open primary, Kreiss-Tomkins finished first, with 22.5% of the vote. Begich, a former state senator, finished second with 20.8% but pulled out of the race at the end of August and endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins.
Taylor joked about the rapid changes to the election field — he was removed from the ballot at the end of August because of financial reporting problems but then placed back on the ballot when Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom reversed her disqualification decision.
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“I’m back!” he said in his opening statement. “Surprised nobody out there has a neck brace on. I certainly needed one for a little bit there, but it’s great to be back.”
Not attending was Bernadette Wilson, the top-ranked Republican with 10% of the primary election vote, putting her in third place among the 17 contenders in the primary and second among the four candidates advancing to the general election.
Bronson, who finished the primary just behind Wilson with 8.1% of the vote, aimed some veiled criticism at her, nonetheless.
One barb came during a discussion about the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend.
“Some people will tell you that you can cut your way to a full PFD. You can’t do it. It’s not mathematically possible,” he said.
Wilson has argued that state government should be drastically reduced and that the annual dividend payout should revert to its older and more generous form. That would not be possible, even if every state worker were fired, Bronson said.
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