Five East Anchorage residents are vying to fill an Assembly seat for roughly three months.
The seat belonged to Forrest Dunbar who is now headed to the Alaska Senate. Residents had until Wednesday night to apply for the seat.
The five candidates who filed are Harry Crawford, Joey Sweet, Jim Wojciehowski, Hilary Morgan and Rich Foehrer.
Crawford is a former Alaska legislator who served in the state House from 2001 to 2011. Morgan is the President and CEO of the consulting company Resourceful Results and was CEO of YWCA Alaska for 8 years. Sweet is a former University of Alaska Regent and former legislative intern who works at Angelus Memorial Park Cemetery as an office administrator. Wojciehowski is a retired health care provider who’s worked in Anchorage and in rural Alaska communities. Foehrer is a retired federal employee who worked as a management assistant with the U.S. Army.
The Anchorage Assembly is set to interview the candidates during a special meeting Friday morning, before voting on who will fill the seat. Whoever is selected will serve until the April municipal election. Then, whoever voters elect will serve the remaining two years of Dunbar’s three-year term.
Incumbent Assembly member Jamie Allard of Eagle River was also elected to the Legislature, and will serve in the state House. The filing period for Chugiak-Eagle River residents looking to fill her seat will be from Jan. 10 to Jan. 17. Assembly members will vote on Allard’s replacement on Jan. 19. Allard’s seat is up for reelection this year, so whoever wins the April municipal election will serve a three-year term.
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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.
