Who won the Anchorage election? It could take weeks to figure it out
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - After a late night and long day waving signs in the snow, it seemed obvious Wednesday morning: Anchorage will have yet another runoff for mayor.
That had long been predicted and planned for with Dave Bronson now having more money on hand than his opponent Suzanne LaFrance.
“We’ve always anticipated a runoff because of, you know, the dynamic — the many candidates — and we knew we’d get to that, and so we prepared for that,” Bronson said Tuesday evening. “We’ve got the money we need, we definitely have the team that we need, and we’re looking forward to prosecuting this campaign.”
Bronson is well-versed in runoff campaigns, with his first election ending in a runoff against former Anchorage Assembly member Forrest Dunbar. That 2021 race was incredibly close — at one point, Bronson led with just 114 votes.
The most recent campaign reports from March 26 show Bronson has three times the amount of money to spend over LaFrance. With cash on hand — minus debt — Bronson has $157,600 to LaFrance’s $54,300.
Bronson was first elected during a wave of anger over COVID-19 restrictions.
At the time, Bronson wrote that as mayor, he plans to work to bring Anchorage residents “back together” to make the city “more vibrant than ever.”
But, very quickly, the Anchorage Assembly and Bronson administration clashed over how to handle the homelessness crisis and many balked that for two straight winters, Anchorage schools were forced to move to conduct remote learning on snow days because plows were unable to handle the amount of snowfall making driving, for many buses, impossible.
“Yeah, well, it’s clear from the results that voters want a change. That part is not surprising, but in terms of the margin, that is really, really encouraging,” LaFrance told supporters Tuesday evening.
As of Tuesday night, LaFrance received 36% of votes, while Bronson had 35%.
That’s not enough for either to declare victory because a winner must reach the 45% threshold in the first round.
Bronson says he expects the two-person race to continue to focus on the homelessness crisis and snow plowing and both candidates took jabs at each other reiterating this expectation.
“We don’t have an administration that can even just get the basics right,” LaFrance said at her watch party. “And so we’ve got to get the basics right, we know that, that we can tackle some of these big issues. And it starts with a competent team, a professional team of people who are ethical and who really, truly care about our community.”
“Suzanne likes to pick on me for snow removal, and she says — you know, ultimately, the mayor is responsible for everything that’s under his or her watch, and I am — but as a matter of control, if she thinks as mayor, she’s going to come in and start creating snow plowing plans on her own. That’s called micromanagement, and that’s precisely the last thing we want. I don’t do that,” Bronson said. “But if my directors come in, and they want more money, more equipment, then I’ll go to the Assembly and we’ll get those appropriations in the next budget cycle, and we’ll be prepared for next winter. But two winters does not make a trend necessarily.”
More results are expected Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
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