The Anchorage Assembly is looking to fill two soon-to-be vacant seats.
Assembly members Forrest Dunbar of East Anchorage and Jamie Allard of Chugiak-Eagle River were both elected in November to serve in the Alaska Legislature. Dunbar is headed to the Senate and Allard to the House. Both will be sworn in on January 17.
Dunbar says that his last day on the Assembly will be January 3. East Anchorage residents can apply to fill his seat until next Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 5 p.m. Assembly members will vote on who will replace Dunbar at a special meeting the following Friday.
As for Allard, she says she will serve on the Assembly until she is sworn in to the Legislature on January 17. So the filing period for Chugiak-Eagle River residents looking to fill her seat will start a bit later — running from 8 a.m. on Jan. 10 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 17. Assembly members will vote on Allard’s replacement on Jan. 19.
Residents can send their applications for either seat to the municipal clerk’s office via email or drop them off in-person at City Hall or the municipal election center at 619 E Ship Creek Ave.
To qualify for an Assembly seat, an applicant must be an Anchorage voter and have lived in the seat’s Assembly district for at least one year.
Both replacements, chosen by the Assembly, will serve until the April municipal election.
Allard’s seat was up for reelection, and whoever wins in the municipal election will serve a three-year term. Dunbar was reelected last year, so whoever wins in April will serve the remaining two years of the term.
Anchorage’s municipal election will be held on Tuesday, April 5. Five other seats will be on the ballot, including another East Anchorage seat, and one each for West, South, North and Midtown Anchorage.
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.
