Live Alaska local results: Fairbanks, Kodiak and Wasilla report first totals

This article is being updated throughout election night as Alaska municipalities and the state Division of Elections post new unofficial results. Last updated at 11:49 pm AKDT Tuesday. All figures are preliminary and no race has been called.

The first returns from Alaska's scattered local elections have produced several narrow contests. Three votes separate the candidates in Kotzebue City Council Seat E, six votes separate the candidates currently in position for the last of three regular Kodiak Island Borough Assembly seats, and 16 votes separate the contenders for the last of three Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly seats. A Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly race has a 124-vote margin before absentee and questioned ballots are counted. Late REAA returns also changed the leader in one Lower Yukon school-board race.

Kotzebue, Sitka and Ketchikan Gateway Borough joined Juneau, Palmer, Ketchikan City, Seward, Fairbanks, the North Slope Borough, Kodiak Island Borough and Wasilla in posting election-night counts. The state Division of Elections is also reporting results from all 48 precincts in Regional Educational Attendance Area school-board contests. Alaska News' statewide Election Day guide has the broader list of ballots and official election resources.

Local elections in Alaska are decentralized. Each city and borough reports on its own schedule and under its own counting procedures, while the state separately administers the REAA contests. The totals below should not be compared as though each jurisdiction has counted the same categories of ballots.

Fairbanks North Star Borough and Fairbanks

The borough's 8:54 pm unofficial summary includes early voting and election-day ballots from 32 of 35 borough precincts. It does not include absentee or questioned ballots. Alaska News' Fairbanks election guide explains the races and ballot measures.

Alexis Howell leads Miguel Ramirez by 124 votes in the closest borough contest, Assembly Seat D. Howell has 7,229 votes to Ramirez's 7,105.

In the other contested borough races:

• Assembly Seat E: Nick LaJiness 7,917, Shelly Shupe 6,598.

• Assembly Seat H: Scott Crass 7,463, Joshua Leaders 6,843.

• School Board Seat E: Tim Doran 8,020, Sally Gant 6,334.

• School Board Seat F: Bobby Burgess 6,197, Jaimee Coon 5,990, Robert Herrick 2,158.

• School Board Seat G: Sean Holland 8,116, Bridger Terra 5,971.

All three borough initiatives have clear leads in the election-night count. Proposition 1, the tax-cap initiative, leads 9,410 to 5,321. Proposition 2, which would move regular borough elections to November, leads 8,087 to 6,747. Proposition 3, which would require hand counting, trails 6,632 to 8,254.

In the City of Fairbanks, Aaron Lojewski leads the Council Seat E race with 1,621 votes. Tom Allen has 1,172 and Laura Houger has 329, with seven of 10 city precincts reporting.

North Pole

Only one of four North Pole precincts was included in the borough's report. In the race for two council seats, Aubrey Barnett has 132 votes, Thomas McGhee 109 and Benjamin Williams 73.

Proposition A, which would move city elections from October to November, leads 169 to 87. North Pole published its official candidate list and election material.

North Slope Borough

The borough's first unofficial results include five contested races:

• Mayor: Josiah Patkotak 898, Harry Brower Jr. 558.

• Assembly District A-1: Eva Kinneeveauk 884, Robert Omnik 510.

• Assembly District A-3B: Stefanie Lozano 548, Craig Moore Jr. 484, Martin Edwardsen 400.

• School Board Seat A: Heidi Ahsoak 808, Megan Edwardson 621.

• School Board Seat C: Angel Alivrun 1,045, Neal Johnston II 368.

The results do not include absentee and questioned ballots. The borough reported 153 absentee ballots and 59 questioned ballots issued.

All eight bond propositions shown in the borough's result file are leading by wide margins. Alaska News' North Slope election guide has the broader ballot details. The borough's results notice says the Assembly is scheduled to approve official results Oct. 13.

Kotzebue

The City of Kotzebue's preliminary municipal results show 257 hand-counted ballots. The city reported:

• City Council Seat A: Ernest Norton 229.

• City Council Seat B: Derek Haviland-Lie 222.

• City Council Seat C: Cory Jackson 216.

• City Council Seat E: Ginger Douglas 28, William Biesemeier 25, Lena Ellen McClellan 3.

Douglas leads Biesemeier by three votes in Seat E. Two questioned ballots remain uncounted while the city awaits a response from the state Division of Elections. The City Council must canvass the preliminary results before they are publicly declared and entered into the record.

Juneau

Juneau's 9:30 pm preliminary count includes 5,962 ballots, or 21.47% of registered voters. The city estimates that represents about 55% to 60% of the eventual total because Election Day, drop-box and mailed ballots remain to be processed.

• Areawide Assembly: Paul Kelly 3,421, Brad Sapp 1,687, James McCants 322.

• Assembly District 2: Joyce Niven 1,829, Malachi Thorington 1,394, Karla Hart 1,326, David Morris 903.

• Board of Education, two seats: David Noon 3,548, Britteny Cioni-Haywood 3,264, Christine Johnson 1,984.

• Proposition A, extending the 3% sales tax: Yes 4,694, No 1,134.

• Proposition B, changing the mill-rate cap: No 3,068, Yes 2,842.

• Proposition C, creating a seasonal 1% sales tax: Yes 3,369, No 2,562.

Mila Cosgrove, the only listed Assembly District 1 candidate, has 4,233 votes. Alaska News' Juneau ballot guide explains the three tax propositions. Certification is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Sitka

Sitka's unofficial election-night report includes both precincts and early voting but no absentee or questioned ballots.

• Mayor: Kevin Mosher 1,062, Thor Christianson 495, Lisa Lane 263.

• Assembly, two seats: J.J. Carlson 1,117, Sherri Blankenship 1,111, Darrell Windsor 1,022, Mary Ann Hall 22.

• School Board, three seats: Kat Richards 1,445, Phil Burdick 1,441, Matt Potter 1,308.

• Proposition 1, changing the charter's mandatory special-election rule: No 981, Yes 800.

The proposition and all candidate totals remain unofficial until the municipal canvass and certification process is complete.

Kodiak Island Borough

Kodiak Island Borough's first unofficial tally has Mark Vizcocho, Scott Arndt and Jeremy Williamson in position for three regular Assembly seats, but the third seat is far from settled.

• Mark Vizcocho: 714.

• Scott Arndt: 586.

• Jeremy Williamson: 542.

• Kaleb Callahan: 536.

• Adam Powers: 368.

• Steven Ames: 339.

• Shawn Brekke: 321.

Williamson leads Callahan by six votes for the third seat.

In the separate race for a one-year Assembly term, Alexander Sweeney leads Caroline Roberts 618 to 573. Roberts withdrew after the ballots were printed and remained on the ballot.

Kerry Irons has 1,001 votes and Duncan Fields has 816 in the race for two School Board seats.

The borough lists 742 possible by-mail, absentee, questioned and special-needs ballots for canvass, including 695 village ballots sent to voters. That figure is not a count of ballots returned, but it shows why the closest Assembly contests cannot be resolved from the election-night tally.

The City of Kodiak had not posted separate council or proposition results when this article was updated. The city's ballot included a proposition on where the city manager may live.

Ketchikan City

Ketchikan City's unofficial election-night statistics include 1,040 ballots cast at the polls. In the race for three regular City Council seats, the poll count is:

• Judy Zenge 550.

• Jack Finnegan 522.

• Riley Gass 484.

• Michael Fitzgerald 345.

• Ashley Snyder 254.

• Sven Westergard 226.

• Tommy Haugum 171.

In ballot order, the sheet lists Finnegan first; the totals above are ordered by votes. For the one-year council term, Spencer Strassburg has 633 votes and Jai Mahtani has 232. Proposition 1, authorizing up to $25 million in electric-system revenue bonds, leads 758 to 244.

The sheet lists 149 absentee ballots, 17 special-needs ballots and 49 questioned ballots for canvass. Its filename and footer identify it as the 2026 report, but the heading retains an Oct. 7, 2025 date. The city had not corrected that discrepancy when Alaska News checked. The Ketchikan election guide has the ballot details.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

The borough's 10:08 pm preliminary report has an especially close contest for the third of three Assembly seats:

• Kathy Bolling 1,260.

• Dan Ortiz 1,230.

• Sharli Arntzen 1,130.

• Timothy Montgomery 1,114.

Arntzen leads Montgomery by 16 votes for the third seat. The report lists 294 absentee ballots, nine special-needs ballots and 107 questioned ballots for canvass, plus 23 absentee ballots not returned or not counted.

For two School Board seats, Frances Klein has 1,051 votes, Marissa Medford 979, Vicki O'Brien 801 and Rob Holston 489.

The areawide-library proposition is currently passing 565 to 486 among voters inside Ketchikan and Saxman, but failing 330 to 613 among voters outside the two cities. The measure must win in both voting groups, so it is currently failing.

Wasilla

Wasilla's 8:26 pm unofficial report includes 564 counted ballots. It lists another 329 early, by-mail, questioned and special-needs ballots that are not part of the current totals.

Alina Rubeo leads the mayoral race with 391 votes. David Wilson has 120 and Stu Graham has 52. Rubeo is above the city's 40% threshold for avoiding a runoff in the current count, but the city has not declared a winner.

Ian Crafton leads David Seals 278 to 231 in the Council Seat D race. Bruce Webb has 441 votes in the Council Seat C race, where he is the only printed candidate; write-ins have 33.

Palmer

Palmer's unofficial pre-canvass report includes poll votes from 125 ballots, with 109 early, absentee, questioned and special-needs ballots still outside the candidate totals.

For two three-year City Council seats, Gladys "Penny" Mosher has 93 poll votes and Sherry Carrington has 79. Write-ins have six. For the one-year seat, Bruce Brown has 69, Aundra "Omega" Jackson has 48 and write-ins have six.

The city says it expects an updated count late Friday afternoon, with certification scheduled for Oct. 12.

Seward

Seward's unofficial election-night report has Bob Barnwell and Matt Cope leading for two City Council seats:

• Bob Barnwell 187.

• Matt Cope 147.

• Rhonda Hubbard 135.

• Victor Maddox 100.

• Julie Crites 64.

• Write-ins 2.

The count includes 324 election-day ballots. The canvass board has 74 additional absentee, by-mail, special-needs and questioned ballots to count Friday, so Cope's 12-vote lead over Hubbard for the second seat is unresolved. The City Council is scheduled to certify the results Oct. 12.

Regional school boards

The Alaska Division of Elections' 10:41 pm. REAA report includes all 48 precincts. The state administers these school-board elections in communities outside organized borough school districts.

Notable contested results include:

• Alaska Gateway Seat D: Shawn Champagne 109, Ashley LaGrange 77. One of one precinct reporting.

• Alaska Gateway Seat G: write-ins 15, Anne Esmailka 8. The summary does not yet allocate the write-ins by candidate.

• Bering Strait Seat B: Frieda Southall 114, write-ins 16. Three of three precincts reporting.

• Bering Strait Seat E: Silas Paniptchuk 85, Tony Haugen 66. Two of two precincts reporting.

• Chatham Seat A: Crystal Parkin 44, Kristi Kookesh 39, Richard Strong 14.

• Chugach Seat A: Shelby Carlson 51, Sean Marx 32.

• Lower Yukon Seat B: Reynold "Papa Joe" Okitkun 263, Doug Redfox 183, Raymond Waska 71, Angelica Agathluk 63, Jason Teganlakla 56. Ten of 10 precincts reporting.

• Lower Yukon Seat I: Brenda Brown 212, Sheila Minock 189, Charles Greene 115, Olga Xavier 88. Ten of 10 precincts reporting. Brown moved ahead after trailing Minock by three votes in the earlier partial count.

• Yukon-Koyukuk Seat B: Jeanette Williams 72, Lorraine Pavlick 42. Four of four precincts reporting.

• Yupiit Seat C: Robert Charles Sr. 24, Lillian Alexie 15, write-ins 4. One of one precinct reporting.

Even contests showing all precincts are not necessarily final. Eligible by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day may arrive through Oct. 16.

Communities still awaiting initial results

No official numerical tally had been posted by 11:36 pm for the following places covered in the statewide guide:

• Haines Borough.

• Petersburg Borough. Alaska News also published a Petersburg ballot guide.

• Wrangell.

• Bethel.

• Bristol Bay Borough.

• Adak.

• Nome.

• Unalaska.

• Aleutians East Borough.

Alaska News will add those returns as election offices post them and will update the counts above when later reports materially change a race.