The Anchorage Assembly is set to have three new members after preliminary election results were released Tuesday night. Meanwhile, two school-related propositions -- a bond package for capital improvements and a one-time tax hike intended to hire more teachers, are both failing by razor-thin margins.
Incumbent Assembly members Anna Brawley, representing West Anchorage, South Anchorage’s Zac Johnson and East Anchorage’s George Martinez are currently leading their challengers. All three faced opponents with more conservative political leanings.
- Brawley currently has a 13% lead over challenger Brian Flynn.
- Martinez leads challenger Cody Anderson by 15%.
- Johnson has 47% of the vote while challengers Bruce Vergason and Janelle Sharp, have about 38% and 11% respectively.
Johnson, who identifies as a moderate and typically votes with the Assembly’s left-of-center majority and Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, said he sees the results as voters affirming the way the city has been run recently.
“I do believe truly that we have made a lot of progress in the last couple years, and I want to build on that success,” Johnson said Tuesday night.
In his race, Johnson faced last minute-opposition from a little-known political group that sent contradictory mailers describing him as both too progressive and too conservative. He said he’s happy that voters continued to support him in spite of the attacks, which he called "disingenuous."
“It feels good, the validation of knowing that we still came out on top, in spite of that,“ he said. “From the beginning, this campaign has really been about having a positive message. It's been about being really honest and transparent with people.”
Meanwhile, there are three open seats on the Assembly after incumbents Chris Constant, representing North Anchorage, and Midtown Anchorage’s Felix Rivera reached their term limit. Eagle River-Chugiak Assembly member Scott Myers chose not to run for reelection.
- In the race to replace Constant, Sydney Scout holds a lead over challengers Justin Millette, Nick Danger and Max Powers, with 54% of the vote. Millette, her closest challenger, trails with 32%.
- Dave Donley holds a narrow 89-vote lead over Janice Park in the race to represent Midtown. Donley, a current Anchorage School Board member, is term-limited for that office.
- In Eagle River-Chugiak, Donald Handeland leads Kyle Walker with 53% of the vote.
Of the three candidates currently leading to represent open seats on the Assembly, Handeland and Donley are both conservative-leaning candidates. Scout received a bulk of her support from more progressive donors.
Handeland said that though he falls politically outside of the Assembly’s majority, he thinks there are opportunities for members to come together on what they all agree on.
“I think when you get down to a lot of these local issues, there's not a left or right issue on it," Handeland said. "It's a lot of, 'Hey, what's best for the community?'"
The batch of results released Tuesday night totalled about 42,000 ballots. Municipal clerk’s office officials say they had received a little more than that by the end of the day Monday. Remaining results will likely come down to ballots mailed in or dropped off on the last day of voting.
Officials with the municipal clerk’s office say they will continue to release election results daily this week as they’re counted. Next week, the clerk’s office will release results on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Election results are set to be certified by the Anchorage Assembly on April 28.
