Photos: A tour of Chugiak and Eagle River

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 11

Lee Jordan, photographed at his Chugiak home on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, was the first and last mayor of Eagle River, for five months during the 1970's. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled the area's efforts to secede from Anchorage unconstitutional.

Chugiak-Eagle River has produced state legislators, Anchorage Assembly members and school board representatives, but never a serious contender for Anchorage mayor. That was until earlier this month, when Amy Demboski, a Chugiak resident and first-term Assembly member from the district, won a spot in the runoff race. On the campaign trail, Demboski has emphasized less taxation and keeping the size of government in check, stances that mirror the broader viewpoints of the community she's lived in since the age of 12.

Her rival, Ethan Berkowitz, is a San Francisco native and lives in West Anchorage. In an interview, local mystery writer and former Anchorage Daily News reporter Stan Jones referred to Berkowitz as a "downtown Democrat" whose business interests include part-ownership in the popular downtown eatery Snow City Cafe.

The two candidacies highlight some of the regional differences within the more than 1,950 square miles of Anchorage's perimeter — more than a third bigger than Rhode Island — as well as the sometimes uneasy relationship between the core municipality and the neighborhoods farther from the city center.

Read more: Chugiak-Eagle River and West Anchorage: A tale of two candidates