After half a decade of running for political office without any luck, retired Anchorage math teacher David Nees is trying a different tactic: running for two offices at once.
On Friday, Nees registered as a candidate for both the Anchorage Assembly and the Anchorage School Board in the April city election.
"Survey results said people would support me for either," Nees wrote in an email.
Nees filed paperwork with the Anchorage city clerk's office to challenge incumbent Assemblyman Tim Steele in West Anchorage and at the same time compete for an open seat on the School Board.
It wasn't immediately clear if Nees' move was allowed. Nees also filed letters of intent for both seats with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, which allows him to start raising money. Nees said he was advised by APOC that he was able to do so; an official there couldn't be reached Friday afternoon.
Deputy city clerk Amanda Moser said Friday in her eight years running elections, no one had filed to run for two offices simultaneously.
The matter is "under review" by city attorneys, Moser said.
Anchorage's city charter, which is like the city's constitution, prevents an individual from serving in two compensated elected offices at once. City code further specifies that individuals can't serve simultaneously on the Assembly and the School Board, at risk of a fine and recall.
But the laws don't appear to specify whether individuals are barred from campaigning for two offices at once.
Nees has run regularly for political office since 2010: six other times for School Board and once for the Alaska State Legislature, according to election records. He was kicked off the ballot in another run for the Legislature, in 2014, when the state said he failed to file the proper documents for his campaign.