With another 6,400 ballots counted, Anchorage election results firm up with no major changes

Friday’s preliminary ballot counts in the Anchorage election showed no significant change in race outcomes for mayor and school board, and two of nine ballot propositions were continuing to fail.

According to the municipal clerk’s office, as of Friday, the vote count included nearly all the ballots turned in at vote centers or in drop boxes by election night, as well as all ballots voted by election day and received by mail through Friday. The election center by Friday had received 72,589 ballots. It had counted 67,119 of those ballots, representing 28% of Anchorage’s registered voters — and reflecting an additional 6,466 ballots counted since Thursday.

Former Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance maintained 36% of the vote and incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson still had 35%, remaining front-runners in the mayor’s race with 652 votes separating them. Because no single candidate received more than 45% of the vote, Bronson and LaFrance are set to advance to a runoff election in May.

Anchorage Economic Development Corp. leader Bill Popp had about 17% of the vote. Former Democratic state Rep. Chris Tuck had 8%.

Three Anchorage School Board incumbents held on to strong leads over their challengers in Friday’s early results.

Board incumbent Pat Higgins had 55% of the vote in the race for seat E against candidate Kay Schuster.

Seat G incumbent Carl Jacobs had 57% of the vote over candidate Chelsea Pohland.

Incumbent Dora Wilson is winning the race for seat F with 63% of the vote over candidate Angela Frank.

Proposition 8, the $5 million area-wide bond for adding 10 public restrooms around the municipality, is failing with 61% of voters against it. Proposition 7, a $4.1 million bond for creating two new cemeteries in Girdwood and Eagle River, is failing with about 56% of voters against it.

The Anchorage School District’s $62.3 million capital improvements bond was passing with 52% voter approval, though the margin has shrunk slightly since Tuesday’s initial count.

Friday’s results showed all other capital improvement bonds were still passing with healthy margins; those are bonds for city parks, roads and storm drainage, public safety and transit, police, and for improving access to Chugach State Park.

Proposition 2, a ballot measure to require Anchorage Assembly confirmation of the Health Department’s chief medical officer, was also passing with 55%.

Mark Littlefield ran unopposed for the only Assembly seat on the ballot and will represent District 2, Eagle River/Chugiak.

As more ballots are tabulated over the next several days, percentages will shift, but it’s unlikely that most election outcomes will change in a meaningful way.

Election results won’t be final until certification of the regular election by the Assembly on April 23.

Ballot packages for the mayoral runoff election are scheduled to be mailed on April 30, with the final day to vote on May 14.