6 candidates running for Anchorage’s 12th assembly seat

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Anchorage Special Municipal Election is a little more than a month away, and will add a 12th member to the Anchorage Assembly.

There are six people running for the North Anchorage seat, which encompasses Downtown, South Addition, Government Hill, Mountain View, Fairview, Northstar and the northern parts of Spenard, Airport Heights, Russian Jack Park, East and Midtown Anchorage.

The candidates who have filed to run for the seat are Cliff Baker, Rob Forbes, Tasha Hotch, Robin Phillips, Stephanie Taylor and Daniel Volland.

Taylor recently ran against Forest Dunbar for the East Anchorage assembly seat, but is now eligible for the North Anchorage seat due to a change in the voting district lines from the reapportionment process. Therefore, Taylor now lives in the newly created district.

Current North Anchorage assembly member Christopher Constant said that his district has been without a second representative and “underrepresented” for too long. His district is currently the only assembly district without two assembly members.

In 2020, voters approved a charter amendment to add a 12th seat to the assembly. Constant said it’s important for districts to have two representatives so that constituents are always represented during assembly meetings.

“What happens if I were sick or somehow predisposed,” said Constant. “Then they, unlike everyone else were without representation and so my neighbors organized a campaign and effort to move the charter amendment, and voters significantly approved it.”

The special election is not an at-large election, and only applies to voters who live in North Anchorage. Even though assembly members are non-partisan and are not affiliated with any one political party, there has been a call for more conservative-leaning voices on the assembly from audience members at assembly meetings.

In response, Constant said that another conservative- leaning voice would not impact the dynamic of the current 11-member assembly, which currently has three conservative leaning members with Randy Sulte, Kevin Cross, and Jamie Allard.

“The math for veto override doesn’t change because the charter states its two-thirds. Two-thirds of 11 and two-thirds of 12 are the same number, it’s eight,” Constant said.

The Special Municipal Election is on June 21, and mail-in ballots will be mailed to qualified North Anchorage voters, no later than 21 days before election day. For those who wish to vote in-person, they can start on June 13th at City Hall through Election Day.

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