The latest update from the Anchorage municipal election shows candidates aligned with the left-leaning Assembly and school board holding, expanding or taking leads in most races, while costly school bonds continue to trail.
According to the April 10 election update, election officials have processed nearly 62,000 ballots with more expected to trickle in the coming week. Final certification of the election is slated for April 28.
Voter turnout is currently at 26% but that will likely be slightly higher in the final tally.
In the Assembly races, left-leaning candidates are now poised to win five of six seats.
Longtime conservative Anchorage school board member Dave Donely has fallen behind in his bid to win a seat on an Assembly that is already dominated by the far left. After enjoying a narrow lead on election night, Donley now trails his Planned Parenthood-backed opponent, Janice Park, by just 22 votes.
The contested Eagle River Assembly seat will remain in conservative hands, as Donald Handeland enjoys a comfortable lead over Kyle Walker, but it does not appear the ideological makeup of the Assembly will change.
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The school board, however, lost Donley, who was the lone conservative before running for the Assembly. Donley will be replaced by left-leaning Rachel Blakeslee, who holds a sizable lead over conservative Alexander Rosales.
On the bond front, voters agreed to take on new debt for parks and roads upgrades, but two school bonds appear to be headed to narrow defeats. Proposition. 1, a $79.4 million bond, is trailing 48.7% to 49.8% with nearly 62,000 votes tallied. Likewise, Prop. 9, which sought to increase property taxes for school funding, is also failing, 48.8% to 49.7%
The only other bond proposal that is trailing (47.5% to 49.7%) is Prop. 4, which sought to borrow up to $350,000 for constructing exterior building improvements and reconstructing the parking lot at the Anchorage Police Department.
With thousands of ballots still potentially outstanding, the final outcome of the mail-in election could change in the coming days. For the latest tallies, visit the Municipality of Anchorage elections page.
