Running for governor of Alaska in 1998 in a blanket primary, Taylor was outpolled by John Lindauer for the Republican nomination.

Taylor moved to Ketchikan, Alaska in 1961 and later began college studies, earning a B.A.

Taylor was appointed to a Wrangell-based judgeship of the Alaska District Court by governor Jay Hammond on December 23, 1976, besting one other applicant.

[2] In 1998, Democratic incumbent Governor of Alaska Tony Knowles ran for re-election against newspaper publisher John Howard Lindauer, the Republican nominee.

One week before the election, Taylor announced that he was launching a write-in campaign as an alternative Republican candidate for governor.