Here’s who has filed to run for the 12th Anchorage Assembly seat

Seven candidates have filed to run for a single Anchorage Assembly seat in the upcoming June 21 special election, which will give District 1, North Anchorage, a second Assembly representative.

In 2020, voters approved adding a 12th member to the Assembly to represent District 1. Only voters living in that area, which includes downtown, can vote in the June special election.

District 1 was once about half the size of the other five Assembly districts, but during the Assembly’s process to set new boundaries for its election districts earlier this year, it expanded east and south while other districts shrank, in order to add a second representative to the district. Formerly known as downtown, the expanded district is now called North Anchorage.

The slate of candidates includes several new contenders for elected office. The race also will see the return of Stephanie Taylor, a conservative supported by Mayor Dave Bronson who lost the race for an East Anchorage Assembly seat earlier this year. When the Assembly redrew its boundaries, Taylor’s residence was bumped out of East Anchorage, so she can again run for office in her new district.

Here’s who has filed to run:

Cliff Baker

Baker works as a project development team leader and land surveyor for Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, according to his filing for candidacy.

Robyn Forbes

Forbes previously owned and operated two local businesses, Shred Alaska and The Propane Guys. He is currently a partner in The Eureka Space, a private business development in Midtown, according to his website.

Campaign website: forbesforanchorage.com

Tasha Hotch

Hotch works for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium as a program manager and has served as a vice president on the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. She previously ran for an Anchorage School Board seat and lost in 2018.

Campaign website: tashaforanchorage.com

Robin Phillips

Phillips works as an administrative director for the Ted Stevens Foundation. She is the daughter of a longtime Kenai politician, former Alaska Rep. Gail Phillips.

Stephanie Taylor

Taylor is a longtime Anchorage resident and has been a stay-at-home mother of her five children for the last 30 years, according to her website. She has volunteered on several political campaigns, including Bronson’s. The mayor supported her candidacy for Assembly during the 2022 regular election, when Taylor lost to incumbent Assembly member Forrest Dunbar.

Campaign website: stephanieforak.com

Hans Thompson

Update: Thompson withdrew his candidacy on May 12 and is no longer running for the seat.

Thompson works at Chugach Electric as an analyst, according to his website. He has worked on projects for the Matanuska Electric Association and Anchorage’s Municipal Light & Power.

Campaign website: hansthompson.com

Daniel Volland

Volland, an optometrist, is the owner of an optometry clinic in downtown Anchorage. He is vice president of the South Addition Community Council and a board member of Alaskans for Better Elections, which supported Alaska’s new election system, according to his website.

Campaign website: vollandforassembly.com

This story has been updated to include Tasha Hotch’s campaign website and to say that Hans Thompson withdrew from the race.