Wilson name-drops Trump bankruptcies when talking about her problems managing money

For someone who constantly boasts about her business experience by saying, “I have signed the front of a paycheck,” Bernadette Wilson has refused to talk about the many times she has ended up in court over unpaid bills.

Earlier this summer, Alaska Public Media reporter Eric Stone asked her about the time a fuel supplier sued her company, she didn’t respond, and the state garnished her Permanent Fund dividend for two years.

“I have battled through saving a business. I'm very proud to still have that business today. Heck, we've lived through cash flow problems,” Wilson, 42, said in the interview in which she mentioned Stone’s first name 16 times.

“But you know the thing about those moments, Eric, is when you pull through those, when you know that hardship, you come out with a backbone and with a resilience and with a fighting spirit that cannot be taught in a committee room. You don't learn that in elected office. You look at President Donald Trump — and people have their different views of him, I would argue he's done an incredible job for Alaska — a man who had six businesses that declared bankruptcy. Six. And yet he has delivered for Alaska in a very big way, more than any other president.”

“And so you look at those situations, and my message to Alaskans is this: I mean, Eric, you talk about the business stuff. I mean, heck, I know the economic pressures of being a single mother. I faced an unplanned pregnancy when I was 19 years old.”

There were many other instances over the years where official action was taken or threatened against Wilson.

The Anchorage Daily News investigated her financial history and found she “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.”

Its a straightforward and detailed account that everyone should read.

Wilson refused to talk to the Daily News about any of this. I suspect she and her public relations guru, Suzanne Downing, will claim this is a hit piece, but it’s not. It’s based entirely on court records over the last two decades.

“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,” reporter Iris Samuels wrote.

There were also financial problems soon after Wilson, her mother, and her stepfather began Denali Disposal, a garbage collection company.

“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.”

“Other firms alleged in 2019 and 2022 that Denali Disposal did not pay for services the firms provided. Both cases ended in default judgments against Wilson and her company, after she failed to respond to the complaints.”

There’s more:

Denali Disposal was first sued in 2019 by Alaska Traffic Company, which alleged that Wilson’s company purchased $9,661 in goods and services, but never paid for them. Wilson never responded to the lawsuit.

In January 2020, a judge granted a default judgment against Denali Disposal, ordering Wilson to pay $11,349 to Alaska Traffic. A process server sought to collect payment several times before Wilson agreed in April 2021 to pay the debt in monthly $1,000 installments, satisfying the judgment against her company in December of that year.

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.”

Read the full account here. This is the kind of essential nuts-and-bolts reporting that is essential in helping Alaska voters make an informed choice about who should be the next governor.