Monday Anchorage election update: Assembly majority likely to retain veto power, school bond still down by a thin margin

Results in the Anchorage municipal election remained essentially unchanged on Monday after about 7,000 more ballots were counted.

Assembly incumbents Forrest Dunbar, Kameron Perez-Verdia and Meg Zaletel still lead challengers backed by Mayor Dave Bronson in Monday’s results, meaning the Assembly majority is set to hang onto its veto power over the mayor.

South Anchorage’s John Weddleton, who had been viewed as one of the more moderate members of the Assembly over his six-year term, last week conceded in a competitive race to challenger Randy Sulte. Sulte, a conservative who also had Bronson’s support, is now leading Weddleton by 780 votes.

Kevin Cross is winning outgoing Eagle River/Chugiak Assembly member Crystal Kennedy’s seat with 62% of the vote. Kennedy did not run for reelection.

In a statement thanking her volunteers and the people who voted for her, Cross’s most competitive challenger, Gretchen Wehmhoff, said the campaign “wasn’t easy by any means. But we can say we did all we possibly could with what we had. It may not have been enough to win the seat, but we made a mark.”

Two bond proposals continue to fail by narrow margins, including a $111 million bond package to upgrade school district buildings. The school district bond is now behind by 1,218 votes, with 51% voting “no.”

By Monday, 69,771 ballots had been counted in the municipal election, representing about 30% of registered voters.

As ballots continue to arrive by mail, election officials will update results on Wednesday and Friday by 5 p.m. The Anchorage Assembly is set to take up the certification of the vote results on April 26, according to the elections calendar.