Former State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Shelley Hughes has officially endorsed her primary opponent Treg Taylor in his bid to become Alaska’s next governor.
Hughes, of Palmer, finished in eighth place in the 17-candidate primary last month with 5.3% of the vote. Since only the top four primary candidates can advance to the general election, Hughes was eliminated.
She is the first gubernatorial ousted primary candidate to issue an endorsement for the general election.
“I didn’t lend my name lightly or rush to a conclusion,” Hughes said in a video message.
Hughes said she judged the field of remaining GOP candidates, which also includes Republicans Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson, with deliberation.
“The first half of my assessment boiled down to who was the most electable,” Hughes said. “With a socialist-leaning liberal in the race, the stakes are high. A far-left governor would be devastating: income taxes, other taxes, suppressed resource development, more wokeism and failure in our schools. I needed to get behind the most electable candidate—the one right-of-center and moderate voters can get across the finish line.”
That “socialist-leaning liberal” is Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who is the lone Democrat running against three Republicans. He finished first in the primary with 22.5% of the vote, followed by fellow Democrat Tom Begich, who took 20.8%. Begich, however, withdrew from the race to consolidate his left-wing supporters behind Tomkins. This opened the door for Taylor, who finished fifth in the primary, to move up into the final four for the general election on Nov. 3.
Taylor thanked Hughes for her backing.
“Shelley’s vetting was tough and thorough, and I’m honored to have passed the test,” he said. “I’m proud we see eye-to-eye on values and on concrete policy solutions that will make Alaskans’ lives better and our state stronger. Earning her support matters. She is well loved and respected across Alaska. I know her endorsement will carry weight. Thank you, Shelley.”
In addition to electability, Hughes said she also made her decision based on Taylor’s policies.
“I was only going to stick my neck out if a candidate committed to implementing some of the specific proposals and plans my campaign team worked hard to develop to get Alaska on track,” she said. “I had encouraged the remaining candidates to take up any of the action steps my team and I proposed,” she continued. “Treg is the only one who did. He not only met the high bar I set on character and electability, but what excites me most is his commitment to the feasible plans we offered – to address decades-old problems, to begin work for future decades, to build an economy of strength and resilience, and to secure freedom and opportunity for Alaskans for generations.”
Taylor listed several of Hughes’ policies that he backs.
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“We need the Sunset Audit Commission to drive agency efficiency and cost savings,” he said. “I am committed to a constitutional framework for grand juries. No more filtering. It will be an open door, a pathway to uphold citizens’ rights. A full energy portfolio. Alaska lands in Alaskan hands. A shift to abundance management for fish and game. A stronger agriculture sector, increased food security. I’m excited – and the time is right – to work with the private sector to connect our rail to the Lower 48 and to the Port of Nome. Positioning Alaska as the intercontinental transportation hub of the Northern Hemisphere will lower the cost of goods in Alaska, open new sites for responsible resource development, and strengthen our transportation system so Alaska exports become a reality.”
Hughes’ lieutenant governor running mate Blake Gettys added that while Taylor got the endorsement, both he and Hughes plan on using ranked-choice voting to rank the three GOP candidates on the November ballot to ensure a Republican wins the governor’s race.
“We’ll both rank the right, but the Taylor/English ticket will be our top choice,” Gettys said.
10 Comments
Shelly, why would I vote for a guy who placed fifth in the running. I’m voting for all the republicans, because of this stupid RCV. Wake up everyone, remember to VOTE YES On prop #2 to eliminate this RCV system.
Shelly Hughes is a nobody! Ain’t no one gives a crap what she endorsed!
With Rigged Choice Voting If conservatives do not rank all 3 (Wilson, Bronson, Taylor) we will get the homosexual communist JKT as our next governor. Hughes likely knows this so her publicly endorsing Taylor does not help voters understand what will happen if they only vote for Taylor.
A loser has endorsed a loser? The most electable candidate is the one with the most votes. Vote for the most electable and vote YES on proposition 2.
How disappointing I voted for Shelly, Just goes to show you when you think a politician is the correct choice…
They burn you.
In fact Shelly you turned out to be the problem that the R’s are facing in dealing with RCV. They cannot come together as the R’s did prior to RCV. Now given the opportunity to get behind the candidate with the most votes, you play right in the Hands of the Democrats. So here is the question to Hugh’s, what are you going do when Alaska goes back to the traditional way of voting ie primaries? Are you not going to support the candidate with the most votes in the primary?
Shelly you are a phony that fooled me once, but never again, what a BSer.
Hughes is the airhead that followed Lying Mealy Mouthed Adam Crum when he put the communist formed medical group plan called State of Reform to the public, and signed up with Grey-Jackson to aid in health care during the Covid shut down. Hughes had to hire many persons to help her thru the mud bath she participated in with Crum and Radical Zinke. Now the show of support to Taylor. Wow! The circus gets bigger everyday. Taylor had a communist China attorney working in the Department of Law who was not admitted to Alaska Bar or a citizen of the US and whose visa was expired and is in ICE custody getting shipped back to Red China. How has all this gone for Taylor and why don’t we hear a word on this? Between Dunleavy and the Dept of Law we haven’t heard a peep. Unfortunately, Alaska has to put their names on a ballot in order for a vote to count. Send Taylor to Communist China with the Chinese Attorney who collected our money in budget while working for the crook in the governor’s seat and Taylor along with any other lying junk head picked by Dunleavy. How does that sit with the candidates and the people of Alaska?
Rank all three Republicans or end up with JKT.
Vote YES on BM2: Repeal Rigged Voting;
Yes on BM3: ONLY American citizens can vote in Alaskan Elections.
You’re absolutely right Concerned Voter –
Rank 3 Republicans – even if you have to hold your nose on 2
and….on BM2 and BM3
VOTE YES!! TO END THE MESS
Treg Taylor withheld from disclosure a huge amount of pricey dodgy trips in 2025 when he was Dunleavy’s fixer. What a crook. Good expose in today’s ADN. Guess what party Treg Taylor belongs to?
Is Shelly still supporting Trey after his $69,000 in travel gifts are now public? That’s in just seven months last year. In 2024 Treg has $40,000 in travel paid for. He got free trips to Italy, South Africa, the US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, California, and more. Must be nice to get free golf trips to Pebble Beach, Texas, and North Carolina. Oh I forgot, he also was given free trips to Israel and France. All Attorney General business, of course; even the golf tournaments.
Per ADN btw, with which you can’t even wrap fish anymore (but they occasionally find a gem). adn.com/politics/2026/09/17/treg-taylor-accepted-69000-in-travel-related-gifts-last-year/