Former wrestler challenges vice-chair for Assembly seat

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - There are 17 candidates competing for seven open seats on the Anchorage Assembly for the April 4 election.

Seat B in District 1 is one of two Assembly positions with incumbents in the race. The other five seats opened after assembly members either stepped aside, reached their term limit or were elected to another position.

Former WWF wrestler Nick Danger, a Republican, and John Trueblood, a project manager and volunteer, are each challenging Anchorage Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant for his North Anchorage district seat.

Danger — who’s made runs for a variety of political positions in the past including for Anchorage Assembly and the Alaska House of Representatives — served two terms on the Girdwood Board of Supervisors and was appointed as a state municipal safety officer by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

“You’ve got to vote for a wrestler, I’ll grapple for ya,” Danger said. “I’m not going to lose. Let’s go.”

Danger identifies as a Republican who says he’s running to make sure there’s healthy competition in the race, address high property taxes, improve relations with the mayor’s office and tackle homelessness in the city. Assembly seats are nonpartisan.

“I have definitely got more longevity here,” Danger said. “I’ve been here longer than anybody sitting on the Assembly, pretty much right now, and I think that’s important. I know the streets. I know the people. I know the districts.”

Anchorage Assembly Vice Chair Chris Constant urges voters to re-elect him to his third consecutive term.

Constant, a Democrat, says voters should keep him on the Assembly because he has more hands-on experience than the other candidates and points to a range of accomplishments he’s made on the Assembly.

“Last year voters added a twelfth member to the Assembly — which for this district, for the last 35 or 40 years, our district has been represented by one assembly member while every other district has been represented by two,” Constant said. “I fought to make sure that our district has equal and fair representation.”

Constant says he’s made connections in his years on the Assembly that make him able to take care of problems faster than a newcomer.

“I’ve served for the last six years through some very challenging times,” Constant said. “I believe I’ve stood the test of leadership and have provided for my neighbors the steady hand on the till that they have needed to see while we went through a global pandemic.”

Fellow District 1, Seat B candidate John Trueblood declined an on-camera interview, and also declined to answer background questions for this story.

Trueblood, and the 16 other candidates, completed a questionnaire for their candidacy.

This story is the first in a series that will include all 17 Anchorage Assembly candidates.

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