News about Anchorage's April 2024 election for mayor, Assembly, school board and ballot measures.
Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News are co-hosting a mayoral runoff debate between Suzanne LaFrance and Dave Bronson. The last day to vote in the runoff election is Tuesday, May 14.
The Assembly on Tuesday certified the results of the April regular city election.
John Snelson, chief of code enforcement for the municipality, said the incident was not politically motivated.
Ballots in the runoff race are scheduled to be mailed to voters on April 30. The final day to vote is May 14, according to the city’s election calendar.
Bill Popp, a longtime economic development executive, garnered nearly 17% of votes in the election.
Ballot packages for the mayoral runoff election are scheduled to be mailed on April 30, with the final day to vote on May 14.
The Anchorage election center by Friday had counted 67,119 of 72,589 received ballots. Early results continue to show Bronson and LaFrance headed to a runoff and school board incumbents holding their seats.
Ballot propositions for public restrooms and cemeteries continued to fail.
With just about six weeks to sway voters, both the Bronson and the LaFrance campaigns are anticipating a competitive and expensive contest.
Voters are weighing in on races for Anchorage mayor and school board, along with nine bonds and propositions.
In Tuesday night’s preliminary results, nobody got a big enough share of the votes to win outright.
The Anchorage School District’s $62.3 million capital improvements bond was passing with a 4-point margin.
In this year’s election, voters were asked to choose between three school board members who often vote with the majority and challengers critical of the board’s current direction.
Preliminary election day results showed Anchorage School Board incumbents leading their challengers and all but two bonds passing so far.
Preliminary results are expected Tuesday night, but won’t be certified for at least three weeks.
Given the size of the field and the dynamics between candidates, it will be very hard for anyone to hit the 45% vote threshold required to win outright, putting the top two vote-getters in a head-to-head match in May.
Chugiak High School students hosted a forum for mayoral and school board candidates.
Incumbent Dave Bronson raised the most of any candidate during the March reporting window, though lacks much of the organized outside support of his main opponent heading toward the April 2 deadline.
The city is also providing a new way for voters to fix problems with ballot signatures via text message.
Over 90 minutes, the four major candidates answered a series of questions related to topics like homelessness, an impending natural gas shortage and climate change.
Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News co-hosted a mayoral candidate debate featuring incumbent Dave Bronson, Suzanne LaFrance, Bill Popp and Chris Tuck.
Dave Bronson’s top opponents — Suzanne LaFrance, Chris Tuck and Bill Popp — say they’ll put an end to conflict between the Assembly and the mayor’s office. Bronson says his reelection is necessary to keep balance in city government and put a check on the Assembly’s power.
The election comes at a time when the district faces significant challenges, and pits incumbents against candidates who say they want to see fundamental changes to how the board operates.
On the ballot: the mayor’s office, three school board seats and nine bonds and propositions.
Here’s what the candidates had to say about their priorities and many of the issues Anchorage voters said they care about most.