Certified results confirm Anchorage Assembly member Zaletel’s survival of recall attempt

masked woman with glasses
Anchorage Assembly member Meg Zaletel during an Oct. 12, 2021 meeting. (Wesley Early/AKM)

Anchorage Assembly member Meg Zaletel has survived a recall attempt. The results of the Oct. 26 special election were certified during Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting. 

The election saw a roughly 25% turnout, with more than 10,800 Midtown voters. About 60% voted no on the recall, and about 40% voted yes.

The official grounds for the Zaletel recall stem from her participation in a public meeting last summer. Petitioners say the meeting had more people present than allowed under coronavirus-related gathering restrictions in place at the time. 

However, recall supporters and opponents described the recall election as more about polarized politics around various COVID-19 health mandates passed by Zaletel and the majority of Assembly members. Those in support of the recall were opposed to the mandates.

The Assembly voted unanimously to certify the election results Tuesday night. Zaletel is up for reelection in April. 

[Sign up for Alaska Public Media’s daily newsletter to get our top stories delivered to your inbox.]

Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.

Previous articleAlaska News Nightly: Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Next articleSoldotna pilot killed in Kodiak plane crash remembered as outgoing and generous