Incumbent and newcomers win 3 Kotzebue City Council races

An incumbent and two newcomers have won their Kotzebue City Council races.

The city plans to certify the election results and swear in newly elected council members on Wednesday.

In the race for Seat A, Ernest Norton is winning over write-in candidate Lori Jorgensen. Norton gained 230 votes, Jorgensen had 13, and other write-in candidates had 11.

“I was the only person that applied for this seat by the deadline, and that’s because I care about our community and what’s going on in town,” Norton said in an interview on Monday.

As a council member, Norton said he wants to address the dust control issue in Kotzebue.

Incumbent Derek Haviland Lie ran for Seat B unopposed and received 236 votes. Haviland Lie — who also currently holds the Kotzebue City Vice Mayor position — has said he wants to focus on the completion of the Cape Blossom Road and working on the deepwater port.

[Candidates for Northwest Arctic Borough and Kotzebue city races talk about road maintenance, Red Dog Mine and recreation]

For Seat C, candidate Joshua Hadley is defeating Wayne Hogue by 79 votes. Hadley received 164 votes while Hogue ended up with 85.

“I’m very excited. This is the first time I got to be on the ballot and ended up winning — it’s incredible!” Hadley said. “After I get sworn in, let’s get the real work started.”

Hadley, who worked in drilling and is now a deliverer, said that he wants to focus on road maintenance and creating more recreational opportunities, such as holiday celebrations and a chess tournament.

“I want to have more activities for the community to participate in, certainly try things out,” he said.

In the long term, Hadley said he plans to “go against having the city get back into gambling” and reconsider the city’s ownership of the liquor store.

“It might be years before something happens, but I think the city should be more concerned about helping the people than trying to do things like running stores and whatnot,” he said.