When polls closed in Fairbanks on Oct. 6, it looked like a conservative revolution was well underway. More than 2,500 absentee and questioned ballots still need to be tallied for the Fairbanks Borough, which begins today and ends Oct. 13. As of election night, however, it appears that seven of eight races are swinging solidly to the right.
SCHOOL BOARD CONSERVATIVES GROW RANKS
The Fairbanks School Board appears to have added two traditional conservatives to its ranks with April Smith easily defeating incumbent Sean Rice and Maggie Matheson solidly beating Brandon Boyland. If their leads hold, Smith and Matheson will join Matthew Sampson as three solid conservatives on the seven-member school board.
The conservative block had a shot at taking over the majority, but incumbent Tim Doran appears to have fended off a strong challenge by Jeffrey Rentzel, which means the liberal arm would enjoy a narrow 4-3 advantage. This is far closer, however, than the 6-1 advantage they had prior to the election. Below are the unofficial results.
SCHOOL BOARD SEAT F
• April Smith 5,660
• Brianna Gray: 4,259
• Sean Rice: 2,437
• Gregory Kahoe: 1,464
SCHOOL BOARD SEAT G
• Maggie Matheson: 7,757
• Brandon Boyland: 5,758
SCHOOL BOARD SEAT E
• Tim Doran: 7,036
• Jeffrey Rentzel: 6,656
BOROUGH ASSEMBLY CONSERVATIVES SWEEP
All three contests for Borough Assembly appear to have swung conservative with incumbents Jimi Cash and Aaron Lojewski easily fending off challengers on election night. Conservative Tammie Wilson also looks like she will be joining the Assembly, and replacing one of the more liberal members Christopher Quist. Below are the unofficial results from the Assembly races.
BOROUGH ASSEMBLY SEAT H
• Aaron Lojewski: 8,472
• Ryan L. VanReenan: 5,580
BOROUGH ASSEMBLY SEAT E
• Jimi Cash: 7,952
• Shaun Tacke: 6,144
BOROUGH ASSEMBLY SEAT D
• Tammie Wilson: 7,456
• Donald Crocker: 5,347
• Chris Ludtke: 1,714
CONSERVATIVES GO 2 for 2 in CITY COUNCIL RACES
The Fairbanks City Council races also swung right on election night. Lonny Marney held a 300-vote lead over Sue Sprinkle and Jim Clark ran away from his closest challenger by nearly 500 votes when polls closed.
CITY COUNCIL SEAT E
• Lonny Marney: 1,799
• Sue Sprinkle: 1,478
CITY COUNCIL SEAT F
• Jim Clark: 1,358
• Montean Jackson: 862
• David Van den Berg: 717
