2021 Anchorage mayoral election
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The 2021 Anchorage mayoral election was held on April 6, 2021, to elect the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska.[1] As no candidate received at least 45% of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the highest vote share, Forrest Dunbar and Dave Bronson, advanced to a runoff on May 11.[2][5] The election was officially nonpartisan. Incumbent independent acting mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, first appointed to the position in October 2020, was eligible to run for reelection to a full term, but did not run.[6][7][8] The deadline to register to vote in the first round was March 7. Mail-in ballots were sent out starting on March 15. On May 21, 2021, after a narrow loss, Dunbar conceded the race to Bronson.[9] Bronson was sworn in on July 1.[5]
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| Turnout | 31.88% (first round)[3] 38.35% (runoff)[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Interactive map version Runoff results by precinct:
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Background
Ethan Berkowitz was elected mayor in 2015 and 2018 and was ineligible to run for a third term. On October 13, 2020, he announced his resignation through his chief of staff Jason Bockenstadt at a meeting of the Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage's city council, to be effective October 23. The resignation came after a reporter made allegations that he was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her.[10] Felix Rivera, chair of the Anchorage Assembly, was next in the line of succession to the office. After a failed attempt immediately following the resignation announcement, the Assembly met in a special meeting on October 16 to reorganize itself, installing Austin Quinn-Davidson as Assembly chair with Rivera as vice-chair. This move allowed Quinn-Davidson to succeed to the office of mayor and allowed Rivera to retain his position presiding over Assembly meetings.[10] Quinn-Davidson is both the first female and first openly gay mayor of Anchorage.[11] On November 4, the Assembly voted not to hold a special election for the position of mayor, meaning that the next election for the seat would be the regularly scheduled one in 2021.[12]
General election
In the leadup to the general election, it was widely believed that there would be a runoff between Dunbar and one of the more conservative candidates.[5]
Candidates
Major candidates
- Dave Bronson (Republican), former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot[13]
- Forrest Dunbar (Democratic), Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2016–present), member of the Alaska Army National Guard[14][15]
- Bill Evans (Independent), Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2014–2017), board and two-time co-chair of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce[13]
- Bill Falsey (Independent), Anchorage Municipal Manager (2017–2020)[13]
- George Martinez (Democratic), educator, former special assistant to Ethan Berkowitz for economic development[13]
- Mike Robbins (Republican), businessman[13]
Other registered candidates
- Anna Anthony[16]
- Jeffrey Brown, social services worker[16][5]
- Darin Colbry (Republican), candidate for Governor of Alaska in 2018[16][13][17][18]
- Heather Herndon, real estate developer, construction, project manager, accountant, portfolio private placement financier[16][17][13]
- Jacob Seth Kern (Democratic), perennial candidate[8][16][19]
- Reza Momin[16]
- Albert Swank Jr., civil engineer[16]
- Jacob Versteeg, compliance examiner[20]
- Joe Westfall[16]
Withdrawn
- Eric Croft (Democratic), former state representative, former member of the Anchorage Assembly, former president of the Anchorage School Board, and candidate for governor of Alaska in 2006[8][17]
- Dustin Darden, maintenance worker and perennial candidate[21][22][16]
- Nelson Jesus Godoy, activist and candidate for mayor in 2018[8][16]
Declined
- Austin Quinn-Davidson (Independent), incumbent acting mayor[17]
Endorsements
- Jamie Allard, current Anchorage Assemblyman
- Rick Mystrom, former mayor (also endorsed Martinez and Robbins)[5]
- Dan Sullivan, current United States Senator from Alaska
State officials
- Johnny Ellis, former Majority Leader of the Alaska Senate[23]
Organizations
- AFL–CIO[24]
- AFSCME Local 52[23]
- Anchorage Democratic Party[23]
- Anchorage Education Association[23]
- Anchorage Firefighters Union[23]
- Ironworkers Union Local 751[23]
- IBEW Local 1547[23]
- International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302[23]
- Laborers' Union, Alaska District[23]
- Planned Parenthood (also endorsed Martinez)[24]
- Teamsters Local 959[23]
- Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 367[23]
- Chuck Kopp, former state representative (Republican)[25]
- Dan Sullivan, former mayor, nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in 2014, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016 (Republican) (no relation to U.S. Senator from Alaska Dan Sullivan)[26]
People
- Rick Mystrom, former mayor (Republican) (also endorsed Bronson and Robbins)[5]
Organizations
- Planned Parenthood (also endorsed Dunbar)[5]
- Rick Mystrom, former mayor (also endorsed Bronson and Martinez)[16]
Fundraising
| Campaign finance reports as of February 18, 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate (party, if known) | Total raised | |
| Anna Anthony | did not file | |
| Dave Bronson (R) | $162,482 | |
| Jeffrey Brown | did not file | |
| Darin Colbry (R) | $0 | |
| Forrest Dunbar (D) | $252,216 | |
| Bill Evans (I) | $98,480 | |
| Bill Falsey (I) | $106,285 | |
| Heather Herndon | $0 | |
| Jacob Seth Kern (D) | did not file | |
| George Martinez (D) | $60,086 | |
| Reza Momin | did not file | |
| Mike Robbins (R) | $210,058 | |
| Albert Swank Jr. | $0 | |
| Jacob Versteeg | did not file | |
| Joe Westfall | did not file | |
| [27][24] | ||
Debates
Five candidates did not participate in either debate: Anna Anthony, Darin Colbry, Jacob Seth Kern, Reza Momin, and Jacob Versteeg.
| 2021 Anchorage mayoral election debates | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date & time | Host | Moderator | Link | Participants | |||||||||||||
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee |
||||||||||||||||||
| Dave Bronson | Jeffrey Brown | Forrest Dunbar | Bill Evans | Bill Falsey | Heather Herndon | George Martinez | Mike Robbins | Albert Swank Jr. |
Joe Westfall | |||||||||
| 1[28] | February 16, 2021 |
Tom Hewitt |
P | N | P | P | P | N | P | P | N | N | ||||||
| 2[30] | March 18, 2021 |
West Anchorage Community Councils |
Tahnee Seccarccia | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | |||||
Polling
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 24,567 | 32.96 | |
| Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 23,054 | 30.93 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Falsey | 9,551 | 12.82 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Evans | 7,073 | 9.49 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Robbins | 5,766 | 7.74 | |
| Nonpartisan | George Martinez | 2,753 | 3.69 | |
| Nonpartisan | Heather Herndon | 451 | 0.61 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jeffrey Brown | 307 | 0.41 | |
| Nonpartisan | Anna Anthony | 306 | 0.41 | |
| Nonpartisan | Albert Swank Jr. | 231 | 0.31 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joe Westfall | 83 | 0.11 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jacob Seth Kern | 52 | 0.07 | |
| Nonpartisan | Reza Momin | 52 | 0.07 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jacob Versteeg | 43 | 0.06 | |
| Nonpartisan | Darin Colbry | 31 | 0.04 | |
| Write-in | 205 | 0.28 | ||
| Total votes | 74,525 | 100.00 | ||
Runoff
In the leadup to the runoff, third-place primary finisher Falsey and sixth-place finisher Martinez endorsed Dunbar, while fifth-place finisher Robbins endorsed Bronson.[34][35] Fourth-place finisher Evans did not make an endorsement.
Forum
| 2021 Anchorage mayoral election runoff candidate forum | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date & time | Host | Moderator | Link | Participants | |||||||||||||
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee |
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| Dave Bronson | Forrest Dunbar | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | May 3, 2021 |
Kathleen McCoy |
P | P | ||||||||||||||
Polling
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 45,937 | 50.66 | |
| Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 44,744 | 49.34 | |
| Total votes | 90,681 | 100.00 | ||