NEW: Bernadette Wilson “Sued Repeatedly Over Unpaid Bills”

NEW: Bernadette Wilson "Sued Repeatedly Over Unpaid Bills"

New reporting from Anchorage Daily News dives into Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson's failed business record after it was revealed she and her company were sued three times over unpaid bills that resulted in nearly $75,000 in payments.

Over the course of just five years, "judges ordered Wilson and her garbage-collection company to pay $74,807 after three businesses sued over unpaid bills."

Wilson's record includes late rent payments, multiple lawsuits over condo dues, unpaid vendor bills, repeated insufficient checks, mortgage defaults, foreclosure proceedings and garnishment of Wilson's Permanent Fund dividends to pay her debts.

As fellow Republican candidate Dave Bronson put it: "it's important that someone with this much financial and legal issues should probably get their own house in order before trying to sell the public on their ability to hold the highest office in our state."

Read more about Wilson's troubling financial history:

Anchorage Daily News: Governor candidate Bernadette Wilson has been sued repeatedly over unpaid bills, records show

• Bernadette Wilson, a Republican former talk radio host and conservative activist, has described her experience as a business owner as an asset as she runs to be Alaska's next governor. But Wilson has a history of unpaid bills, checks returned for insufficient funds, and having her Permanent Fund dividends garnished to pay her debts, court records show.
• Between 2019 and 2024, judges ordered Wilson and her garbage-collection company to pay $74,807 after three businesses sued over unpaid bills. In two cases, Wilson's company failed to respond to the lawsuits, leading to default judgments.

• [Wilson's] primary occupation, as she describes it on campaign flyers and in speaking engagements, is owning and operating Denali Disposal, a garbage-collection company that she started a decade ago with her stepfather, Dan Zipay.

• A real estate firm that leased a commercial facility to Denali Disposal between 2018 and 2023 alleged that Wilson was "chronically late" in rent payments, accruing late charges for delayed rent at least 18 times in a five-year period. Wilson also repeatedly tried to pay the company with checks that were returned due to insufficient funds, according to court documents.
• Prior to starting her garbage-disposal business, Wilson was repeatedly sued by her condo association between 2007 and 2015 for failing to pay dues. She defaulted on her mortgage multiple times between 2008 and 2014, state records show.

• In several cases, Wilson declined to answer court filings related to unpaid bills, giving little insight - if any - on her financial decisions.

• Bronson said in a statement Friday that "it's important that someone with this much financial and legal issues should probably get their own house in order before trying to sell the public on their ability to hold the highest office in our state."

• Denali Disposal was first sued in 2019 by Alaska Traffic Co., which alleged that Wilson's company purchased $9,661 in goods and services, but never paid for them.

• A few months later, Shoreside Petroleum sued Denali Disposal, Wilson and her mother, alleging that their company bought petroleum products from Shoreside on credit, then failed to pay its bills. According to court records, Wilson attempted to pay a portion of her bill using checks that were returned due to insufficient funds.

• Again, Wilson and Zipay never responded to the complaint against them and Denali Disposal. Several months after the complaint was filed, a judge granted default judgment against Wilson, Zipay and their company, ordering them to pay $57,874 to Shoreside Petroleum.
• A process server tried to contact Wilson and her mother several times, according to court records. Their Permanent Fund dividends were garnished for two consecutive years to help pay off the debt. The full amount was paid off in September 2025, three months after Wilson entered the governor's race.
• Her condo association first sued Wilson in April 2007 over a debt of $1,360 in unpaid dues. In May of that year, Wilson responded to the suit with a hand-written note, in which she wrote that her and her then-husband Chris Fournier "will have the better half of what is owed to (the association) by the end of the month, and will pay the remainder within the two weeks following."

• But in October 2007, an employee of the property management company testified that Wilson had not made any dues payments in 11 months. By then, Wilson owed $3,485 in dues, fees and charges. The association alleged that when Wilson attempted to pay with a personal check, it "was returned due to insufficient funds."

• The condo association again sued Wilson in 2013, alleging that she owed $8,018 in unpaid dues, assessments and fines. Wilson confessed to the debt, and a judge ordered her to pay the association a total of $9,132. The debt was not satisfied until 2016.

• The association last sued Wilson in 2015, alleging that she owed $2,647 in unpaid dues, assessments and fines. The case was dismissed after Wilson paid $1,855.

• According to state records, Wilson defaulted on her mortgage in 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2014. Foreclosure proceedings were repeatedly halted after Wilson renegotiated her loan with her lender.

• In 2011, Deutsche Bank sought to evict Wilson from her condo after she faced foreclosure. The case was ultimately dismissed after Wilson again entered a loan modification agreement with the bank.

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