Doreen June Leavitt was defeating Martin Edwardsen by a tight margin in a run-off race for a North Slope Borough Assembly seat, but the results were not definitive as of Monday.
Three candidates were originally competing for the District A3-B, Barrow seat: Don Anthony Nuunaq Nungasak, Martin Edwardsen and Doreen June Leavitt. Last month, Edwardsen received 545 votes, Leavitt got 504 votes and Nungasak had 406 votes. Since none of them received the required 40% of the votes cast for that office, the two leading candidates, Edwardsen and Leavitt, were set to meet in the runoff election on Nov. 7.
[Patkotak becomes new North Slope Borough mayor]
Edwardsen previously spoke about the need for recreation for youth and supporting hunters and fishermen and Leavitt wanted to focus on following a balanced budget, ensuring that the borough has fair contracts, as well as supporting essential public safety services such as police and fire.
In the run-off race, Leavitt gained 175 votes so far while Edwardsen has 174, according to the North Slope Borough unofficial results posted on Nov. 9.
The borough’s clerk’s office was waiting for remaining information from Kaktovik and Point Hope, which was delayed because of stormy weather and flight disruption, said Falaura Hopson, executive assistant at the clerk’s office.
“We might have official results within the next two days,” she said Monday.