Six Assembly seats and two school board seats are on the ballot in Anchorage’s upcoming regular city election.
Registration for candidacy in the April 1 election closed at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Just two Assembly incumbents are running to keep their seats in this election: Daniel Volland in North Anchorage and Kameron Perez-Verdia in West Anchorage are each facing a challenger. A handful of new and returning city candidates are vying for the other four open seats.
Midtown member and Vice Chair Meg Zaletel decided not to seek reelection, along with Eagle River member Mark Littlefield and East Anchorage member Karen Bronga. Assembly member Randy Sulte of South Anchorage is unable to run for a second term, because when the Assembly redrew its district boundaries in 2022, Sulte’s residence was bumped into the West Anchorage district.
That means the city will see at least four new Assembly members elected this year.
Incumbent School Board members Margo Bellamy and Kelly Lessens will campaign to keep their seats this year. Bellamy is challenged by Alexander Rosales, and Lessens is up against Mark Anthony Cox.
Anchorage residents who haven’t yet registered to vote with the state must do so by March 2 in order to vote in the April 1 city election.
Anchorage Assembly
North Anchorage - District 1 - Seat L
Daniel Volland: Volland, the incumbent, was elected to the Assembly during a special election in 2022 when the city added a 12th seat to its legislative body. He served as the co-chair of the Assembly’s former Health Policy Committee and is co-chair of the new Transportation Committee. Volland is an optometrist with a practice in downtown Anchorage. Website: vollandforassembly.com
Nicholas Danger: Danger is a perennial local candidate who has run for several public offices but has not won an election. Most recently, he ran for Anchorage mayor alongside a bevy of other candidates last year. In 2022, he ran as a Republican for a state House seat. Danger is a Local 302 operating engineer at the Don Young Port of Alaska. Website: nick-danger.freeservers.com
Daniel George: George is a real estate agent, member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and the Mountain View Community Council’s delegate to the Federation of Community Councils, where he serves as the FCC’s vice chair. Website: None
Chugiak, Eagle River, JBER - District 2 - Seat A
Kyle Walker: Walker is a civil engineer with the Alaska Department of Transportation, according to his filing. Website: None.
David Littleton: Littleton works for a trade school, the Alaska Laborers Training School, doing facilities and grounds maintenance, caretaking and part-time instruction. Littleton spent more than 40 years working in construction, he said. Website: None.
Jared Goecker: Goecker was a Republican candidate for a Chugiak-Eagle River state senate seat last year and lost to the incumbent, Republican state Sen. Kelly Merrick. He has previously worked as the city’s deputy director of Human Resources and has worked in labor relations for the state under Gov. Mike Dunleavy, according to his website. Website: jaredforalska.com.
West Anchorage - District 3 - Seat D
Kameron Perez-Verdia: Perez-Verdia is a two-term Assembly member running for a third consecutive term. He is chair of the Assembly’s Public Health and Safety Committee and co-chair of its Housing and Homelessness committee. In his day job, Perez-Verdia is the CEO and president of the Alaska Humanities Forum. Website: Kameronforassembly.com.
Jonathan Duckworth: Duckworth is a local business owner. According to filings with the state, he runs the Ristretto Cafe in the Dimond Mall, coffee stand Touch N’ Go Coffee, and the AK Cafe at the Library, which is inside the Loussac Library. Website: None.
Amie Steen: Steen is currently a reserve member of the U.S. Air Force and a part-time employee at North Star Behavioral Health. She is a member of JBER’s National Hispanic Heritage Committee and has volunteered with Alaska Healing Hearts, a nonprofit veteran organization, she said. Website: None.
Midtown - District 4 - Seat F
Erin Baldwin Day: Baldwin day is a community organizer, policy advocate, pastor and nonprofit leader. She founded and is the lead organizer of local nonprofit Mutual Aid Network of Anchorage. According to a press release about her candidacy, in the statewide election last year, Baldwin Day helped advocate for a successful ballot initiative that will increase minimum wage to $15 per hour by July 2027. Website: Erin4anchorage.com.
Annette LaMarche Alleva: She is a co-owner of Grubstake Auction near downtown Anchorage, and also owns Eclectic Soul, a small business selling dog bandanas. Website: None. Note — Alleva withdrew candidacy on Jan. 27, according to the municipal election center.
Don Smith: Smith is a former Assembly member who represented South Anchorage from 1975 to 1985. He served one term as a state House representative in the late 1960s, and one term on the Anchorage School Board from 2010 to 2013. Smith made two other bids for Assembly seats and lost, running in 2016 and again in 2017. Website: None.
East Anchorage - District 5 - Seat H
Angela Frank: Frank ran for a school board seat last year and lost to incumbent board member Dora Wilson. She’s worked for the state as a local government specialist and has an end-of-life consulting service, according to her website and state business license records. Website: Liliesofthevalleyak.com/anchorage-assembly.
John Stiegele: Stiegele filed for office just before the deadline. He did not answer a call seeking more information.
Yarrow Silvers: Silvers has been an activist in state and local politics and is a former writer for political website the Alaska Current. In 2022, she and two other residents challenged a state Senate redistricting that would have joined East Anchorage with Eagle River. Silvers is currently the vice chair of the Scenic Foothills Community Council and worked as a legislative aide for House Rep. Alyse Galvin, I-Anchorage. Website: Yarrowsilvers.com.
South Anchorage, Girdwood, Turnagain Arm - District 6 - Seat J
Darin Colbry: Colbry has been a candidate for several local public offices in recent years but has not won any races. He ran for mayor in the regular city election last year and in 2021. He ran for Assembly in 2022, and in 2018, he also ran for governor of Alaska and lost in the Republican primary. Website: None.
Keith McCormick: McCormick is a physician assistant who formerly served in the U.S. Marine Corps, according to his LinkedIn profile. Website: None.
Anchorage School Board Candidates
Seat A
Margo Bellamy: Bellamy has served on the school board since 2019 and is running for a third term. She has been the board’s president. Bellamy is an adjunct professor with the University of Alaska Anchorage College of Education and a retired ASD educator and administrator. Website: Margobellamy.com.
Alexander Rosales: Rosales owns an Eagle River-based business Alpenglow Basecamp Rentals. He spent 20 years serving in the U.S. Air Force, according to his LinkedIn profile. Website: alexforschoolboardak.com.
Seat B
Mark Anthony Cox: This is Cox’s fourth run for Anchorage School Board. He ran unsuccessfully in 2023, 2022 and 2021. He is a local business owner who recently opened restaurant Crunchy’s Real Food. Website: Cox4asd.com.
Kelly Lessens: Lessens, the incumbent, is running for a second full term on the board. She was first elected in 2021 after a former member resigned, and was reelected in 2022. Lessens co-founded an advocacy group that pushed for more time for nutrition and recess in schools. Website: Kelly4anchoragekids.com.