Wasilla certifies Rubeo's record win and starts filling her council seat

The Wasilla City Council on Wednesday certified Alina Rubeo's win in the mayor's race and laid out a timeline to fill the council seat she is leaving, at the last meeting run by term-limited Mayor Glenda Ledford.

The certification resolution, adopted without objection, confirms Rubeo won with 585 votes, or 67.2%, and was elected to a three-year term ending in October 2029. The city clerk said that is the highest share for a mayoral candidate in a regular city election. Alaska News reported that her margin avoided a runoff.

Rubeo takes office Monday, Oct. 19, which the clerk noted is a city holiday. That opens Council Seat F, which Rubeo won in the 2025 city election with 251 votes as the only candidate on the ballot. The council will appoint someone to the seat until the October 2027 election.

Council Member Stu Graham, who finished third in the mayor's race, asked whether the council could add the vacancy to Wednesday's agenda to "confirm the vacancy of the seat and get the process started to refill that." The clerk said she did not recommend it and would instead bring legislation to the council's Oct. 26 meeting declaring the seat vacant and setting appointment procedures. Applications are typically open about two weeks after that.

"So it looks like the November 23rd meeting is when we should be expecting to make a decision," said Council Member Ian Crafton, who kept his own seat by 51 votes. He said he and Graham had talked about finishing the appointment "before we got too deep into the holidays."

"This is my last one, guys," Ledford said at the end of the meeting. She predicted more growth for the city — "So all I can say is hang on, because here it comes" — and credited city staff for their work on President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Wasilla the day before. "It's been an honor to sit in this chair," she said.