Filing for candidacy closes Friday for Anchorage Assembly and School Board races

Anchorage’s city election season has arrived, and soon a full roster of candidates in the regular April 4 race will be announced. Filing for the Assembly and School Board races ends Friday at 5 p.m.

A big shift in membership is ahead for the Anchorage Assembly this year. Seven of its 12 seats are up for election, and with only two incumbents in the race, Anchorage voters will choose at least five new members.

So far, 18 people have registered to run for the seven open Assembly seats with the city clerk’s office.

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Voters in East Anchorage will be choosing two new Assembly representatives this year. Former member Forrest Dunbar left his seat after winning a spot in the state Legislature, and member Pete Petersen is finishing his third consecutive term, and can’t run for a fourth, according to city code.

Former Eagle River/Chugiak Assembly member Jamie Allard also left her seat early after winning her state House race, but that Assembly seat would have been up for election on April 4 regardless.

(Currently, two temporarily appointed members are filling in for Dunbar and Allard until new members are elected.)

In all other districts, voters will be choosing just one Assembly member. North Anchorage representative, Vice Chair Chris Constant, is running for another term, and Midtown Assembly member Felix Rivera is also campaigning for reelection.

In two Assembly races, a slew of fresh candidates will be vying for open seats. The two incumbents, Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance of South Anchorage and member Austin Quinn-Davidson of West Anchorage, are not seeking another term.

In the Anchorage School Board race, four people have so far filed with the city to run for two seats — two incumbents and two challengers.

Voters this April will also see a host of city bonds and propositions on their ballots this year, including a few different proposals to change the city’s charter. Of those, one would add time-specific rules for filling mayoral vacancies. Another would change how the city’s tax on marijuana sales is spent, directing it toward early childhood education efforts.

The last day to register to vote in time for the city’s 2023 election is March 5, according to the city’s election calendar. Ballots will be in the mail and secure ballot drop boxes will open on March 14.

Voting closes on April 4 at 8 p.m. The election results will not be final until about three weeks later, and are scheduled to be certified by the Assembly on April 25.