Alina Rubeo wins Wasilla mayor's race with 67% of the vote, avoiding a runoff

Alina Rubeo will be Wasilla's next mayor. The city's final count Friday, Oct. 9, gave the deputy mayor 585 votes, or 67.2%, more than three times the 186 won by former state Sen. David Wilson.

Fellow council member Stu Graham finished third with 100 votes, according to the city's updated results. The City Council is scheduled to certify the election Oct. 14.

Rubeo led from the first count on election night, when she had 391 votes, as Alaska News reported. The ballots counted afterward kept her well above the 40% a candidate needs to avoid a runoff.

The last time three people ran for Wasilla mayor, in 2020, nobody reached that mark. The leader got 38.6%, and Glenda Ledford won the runoff three weeks later by 61 votes. Graham finished third that year too. Ledford is term-limited and leaves office after two terms.

Rubeo's win opens her council seat. The mayor can't also sit on the council, so the council will appoint someone to Seat F until the October 2027 election, as Alaska News reported before the vote.

The closest race on the ballot was for Council Seat D. Incumbent Ian Crafton beat planning commission Chairman David Seals 421 to 370, a 51-vote margin, up from 47 on election night. Bruce Webb, unopposed for Seat C, received 688 votes.

Turnout was 11%, with 893 of 8,105 registered voters casting ballots. That's nearly triple last year's 3.8%, when only council seats were on the ballot.