A fraction of registered Mat-Su Borough voters took time to cast ballots for the Nov. 4 election. Those who did decidedly rejected a proposed 7-cents/gallon fuel tax and approved property tax exemptions for seniors and disabled veterans. They also ensured that the Assembly and school board will be even more conservative moving forward.
As of election night, voter turnout stood at 11.83%. This does not reflect the absentee mail-in ballots, which are not yet tallied. A total of 1,713 absentee ballots were issued. These ballots must arrive by Nov. 7 in order to be counted. The Mat-Su election is hand-count only, thanks to a 2022 vote by the Assembly to eliminate all voting machines.
ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
Borough Assembly
— For the Borough Assembly seat in District 1, conservative Michael Bowles had nearly double the votes of his opponent Michelle Heun – 1,721 to 949. This seat is currently held by Tim Hale, one of the least conservative members of the Assembly. Hale did not run for re-election.
— In Assembly District 2, Democrat-backed incumbent Stephanie Nowers was leading conservative challenger Dana Raffaniello 1,384 to 541. This is the lone race in which the more left-leaning candidate won.
— Republican-backed incumbent Maxwell Sumner was running unopposed in Assembly District 4.
School Board
— Conservative, Republican-backed incumbent Kendal Kruse was leading challenger Gage Saxton – 1,251 to 751 – in the District 2 race for school board.
— Conservative Brooks Pitcher ran unopposed for the school board’s District 5 seat.
— In the school board District 7 race, Republican-backed Lorie Colee was leading Dena McChargue by a vote of 1,034 to 691. This seat is currently held by Ted Swanson, who is by far the most left-leaning member of the majority-conservative school board. Swanson did not run for re-election.
Fuel Tax
— Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed 7-cents/gallon fuel tax. The advisory vote was 8,012 against and 3,465 in favor.
Property Tax Exemptions
— Voter did approve a property tax exemption for qualified seniors and disabled veterans by a vote of 9,901 to 1,558.
Once outstanding absentee votes are counted, the election will be certified on Nov. 18 during a special meeting at the Borough Assembly Chambers, starting at 5 p.m.
Click here to view the complete election night results.
8 Comments
Well done, but Nowers has to go. Not a single inch to liberals. None. Make it a crime to be a democrat, socialist, or any other anti-American affiliation. Drive them all from the Valley.
At least the local Mat-Su government allowed voters to decide for themselves if they wanted a fuel tax vs the 2017 Anchorage Assembly imposed a fuel tax in 2017 (took effect in March 2018) without residents voting on it. Thanks for nothing: Elvi Gray-Jackson (Assembly Chair at the time), Traini (Vice-Chair), Croft, Forrest Dunbar, Bill Evans, Patrick Flynn, Pete Petersen, Bill Starr
Steele, and John Weddleton. Only dissenter against the fuel tax? Amy Demboski.
Mat-Su Borough voters, Good job. Gas tax look at California gas prices.
The vote on property tax exemption kept the current exemption but would permit seniors and veterans to apply for the exemption during the year rather than waiting until the next calendar year to qualify. Under the current rules if you apply for the exemption the day after the cutoff you will have to wait a full calendar year in order to be approved. This is especially a hardship on seniors who purchase a home on or near the the cutoff. With passage of this proposition those eligible for the property tax exemption can receive the exemption regardless of when during the calendar year they moved into their house.
This is encouraging given some of the outcomes in the lower 48. I hope and pray the tides will turn in Anchorage. I still stick to my position that being a registered Republican does not make one a conservative. Sadly in our state there are too many unprincipled people registered as Republican. Unless one is upholding Biblical principals they probably are not truly conservative. Add also, not being registered as a Republican does not make one a leftist or ‘liberal’.
Good. Keep our schools sane so they don’t look like Anchorage. They’re trash out here too but at least we don’t have as much far left crud to reverse to get them back to standard. Everyone should want public schools to succeed, seems the far left is more interested in shooting themselves in the foot for brownie points than working on anything that would improve them.
Be aware.. The 7 cent fuel tax is an “advisory vote”. It’s the Matsu assembly putting out feelers of what voters want. This can come back again during assembly sessions. I voted against the fuel tax because it felt like “anchorage lite gas tax” of 10 cents a gallon. I see that KTUU was lying saying that it was “a narrow margin”. I guess KTUU must be using “new math” to cook the numbers.
The anchorage fuel tax was supposed to be used to replace school roofs. You know how many roofs have been replaced? None. So.. Where did that 20+ million go, anchorage assembly..? Homeless? No-bid contracts for yourself and your friends..?
Look on the bright side.. Assembly members won’t be using that tax money to pave their and their friends driveways like a Wasilla mayor did in the past. Or is it…?
Or John Duffy!