2 educators compete for East Anchorage Assembly seat

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - In District 5, Seat H, the Anchorage Assembly election is between two professional educators.

Voters will choose which one will fill the role Forrest Dunbar served in until he was elected to the Alaska Senate in November.

Leigh Sloan identifies as a fiscal conservative who started The Green Room middle and high schools in Anchorage.

The Green Room offers core subjects and study space for homeschooled students and independent teachers.

Sloan also has a podcast and what she calls a training platform where she says she offers public speaking, life coaching and consulting.

“If you are happy with the way things are going, maybe you should vote for my opponent, but if you feel like, you know, maybe your voice isn’t heard, if you feel like your values aren’t being represented on the Assembly, if like your taxes are too high and you’re not able to live, then maybe I’d be a better choice,” Sloan said.

For Sloan and Karen Bronga, it’s their first time running for an elected position.

Bronga is a registered nonpartisan and says she votes mostly “on the liberal side.”

She spent 20 years as a teacher in the Anchorage School District and 10 years as an officer for the Scenic Foothills Community Council.

Bronga has lived in East Anchorage since she was a child where she says she’s had a front-row seat watching Anchorage grow.

“Classroom teachers are bar none able to pivot on a moment’s notice, respond to things that are happening throughout the day while still figuring out who threw the pencil across the room,” Bronga said. “We’re good at working with people, listening to people and figuring out solutions.”

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