Forrest Dunbar, behind in vote count for Anchorage mayor, says it’s ‘unlikely that we will make up the difference’

Update: This story has been updated with a new article, Bronson expands lead over Dunbar in the Anchorage mayor’s race.

Original article:

In a Facebook post late Thursday, Anchorage mayoral candidate Forrest Dunbar said it is unlikely he will prevail in the runoff against Dave Bronson.

“For those who have been tracking the election results, you know that we are currently trailing my opponent,” Dunbar said. “Given the size of the deficit and the number of votes we believe are outstanding, it appears unlikely that we will make up the difference.”

In preliminary results posted Thursday, Bronson widened his lead over Dunbar to 627 votes, with 81,113 ballots counted. Bronson, a retired military and commercial pilot, was ahead by 0.78%, clearing the 0.5% threshold for an automatic recount.

“This has proven to be a very close race, with exceptionally high turnout – a testament both to the level of engagement among many community members and the continued success of Anchorage’s Vote By Mail system,” Dunbar said.

In an update to the post Friday, Dunbar’s campaign clarified that he was not conceding the race.

“There are still thousands of ballots to count and the final outcome of this race is presently unknown. We are confident in the Clerk’s ability to accurately process and count voted ballots and look forward to receiving updated results.”

Dunbar, an Assembly member from East Anchorage, also is member of the Alaska Army National Guard. In the Facebook post, Dunbar said due to his duties with the Guard, he “will be off the grid the next three days.”