The deadline to file for the Anchorage municipal election was today at 5 pm. There are five Assembly seats and two School Board seats up. The Assembly has 11 members and the School Board has seven.

According to the Anchorage Clerk’s office, the website has been updated with all of the qualified candidates. Surprisingly, Assemblymembers Forrest Dunbar and John Weddleton do not have opponents. Congrats!

Here is a list of the seats that are up and who is running. The municipal election is non-partisan but I am going to include the voter registration of the candidates for a reference.

Anchorage Assembly

District 2 – Seat A – Eagle River/Chugiak

This is the seat that Amy Demboski resigned from to take a job in the Dunleavy administration. The Anchorage Assembly appointed Gretchen Wehmhoff in December to serve out Demboski’s term.

1. Crystal Kennedy – Republican. She unsuccessfully challenged Lora Reinbold for the House in 2016.
2. Clayton Trotter – Republican. He was one of the three names Eagle River Republicans sent to Governor Dunleavy to replace Nancy Dahlstrom. Dunleavy chose Sharon Jackson.
3. Oliver Schiess – Democrat. He unsuccessfully ran against Lora Reinbold for the Eagle River Senate seat in 2018.

District 3-Seat D – West Anchorage

This is the seat currently held by Eric Croft. He is not running for re-election because he is moving to Downtown Anchorage.

1. Liz Vazquez – Republican. She has served on the Chugach Electric board and one term in the State House. She lost her seat to former Representative Jason Grenn in 2016. She tried to get it back but lost to now Representative Sara Rasmussen (R – Anchorage) in the Republican primary in 2018.
2. Dustin Darden – Who knows and who cares. He has run for almost every office under every party label. He is great at getting laughs but better at causing distractions.
3. Kameron Perez-Verdia – Democrat. He was appointed to the School Board in 2013 after Gretchen Guess resigned. He was then elected to a full term.

District 4-Seat F – Midtown Anchorage

This is the seat currently held by Assemblymember Dick Traini. He is termed out.

1. Meg Zalatel – Undeclared. I would describe her as a progressive. This is her first time running for office. She is an attorney and a small business owner.
2. Christine Hill – Republican. She served as the District 23 Republican Party chair. She and her husband own the Alaska Auction Company. This is her first time running for office.
3. Ron Alleva – Undeclared. I would describe him as a pro union conservative. He is also a character. He and his family operate Grubstake Auction Company. He has unsuccessfully run for the Assembly several times.

Interesting note – the auctioneers are running against each other in this one. Maybe Meg should go make some bids and do some recon.

District 5-Seat H – East Anchorage

This is the seat currently held by Assemblymember Forrest Dunbar. He has no opponent. Congrats! Bizarre the Republicans could not find someone to run against him. Or at least file so he had an opponent. Maybe they all got jobs in the Dunleavy administration… Dunbar having no opponent means he can focus his efforts on helping other progressive candidates.

Update: Dunbar is a Democrat (for the one person who didn’t know lol)

District 6- Seat J- South Anchorage

This is the seat currently held by Assemblymember John Weddleton. The Clerk’s office said Ronald Stafford filed for the seat but because he had already filed for the School Board he was disqualified. So, Weddleton has has no opponent. Congrats! Again, bizarre the Republicans did not find someone to run against him. Especially in South Anchorage. So much for the conservatives who say he got lucky last time. Also, he owns Bosco’s. Which is awesome.

Update: Weddleton is Non-Partisan (for all the people wondering)

Anchorage School Board

School Board Seat A

This is the seat currently held by Mark Foster. He was appointed to the seat after Bettye Davis passed away. He is not running.

1. Kai Binkley Sims
2. Margo Bellamy
3. James Smallwood 

School Board Seat B

This is the seat currently held by Starr Marsett.

1. Starr Marsett
2. Paul Hatcher
3. Ronald Stafford
4. David Nees (perennial candidate. Also, he did not get enough signatures for the plastic bag ban recall petition)

The deadline to withdraw is February 5, 2019 at 5 pm. The ballot will also include bonds and a proposed alcohol tax to deal with homelessness, substance abuse, and other public safety issues. This will be the second vote-by-mail election in Anchorage. Ballots go out to all qualified Anchorage voters on March 12. They need to be postmarked, returned to a secure drop box, or returned to the accessible vote center by April 2 at 8 pm.