Matanuska-Susitna Borough voters re-elected conservative incumbents in all but one race in local elections for Assembly and School Board seats Tuesday.
Preliminary election results show incumbent candidates winning in each race except for Assembly District 5, where Bill Gamble took 58% of the vote, unseating Mokie Tew.
Assembly member Dimitri Fonov won a four-way race for District 6 with 55% of votes, and Assembly member Rob Yundt won an unopposed race for the District 4 seat.
In the Mat-Su School Board election, Kathy McCollum retained her seat in District 3 with more than two-thirds of the ballots cast, defeating first-time candidate Sydney Zuyus. Former school board president Ole Larson won his sixth consecutive term on the school board with 58% of the vote over former teacher’s union president Dianne Shibe.
The Mat-Su School Board still has an open seat, though.
According to the school district, School Board member Jacob Butcher resigned on Monday.
According to borough code, the remaining six school board members will select a replacement to serve until the next borough election in 2024.
School District spokesperson Jillian Morrissey said the district would post an application Wednesday for residents who live in District 5, which covers the Big Lake and Knik-Goose Bay areas.
Turnout was low Tuesday in the Mat-Su, with about 9.5% of more than 93,000 registered voters casting ballots.
Voters also supported a transportation bond on the ballot, which passed with 67% of ballots cast in favor.
Tim Rockey is the producer of Alaska News Nightly and covers education for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at trockey@alaskapublic.org or 907-550-8487. Read more about Tim here.
