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South Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson, Photo by Cale Green/Alaska News
Anchorage Assembly chair readies a plan to replace Zac Johnson if his ticket wins
Anchorage Assembly Chair Anna Brawley told members Thursday that she expects to call a special meeting in mid-December, in part to appoint a temporary replacement for South Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson if he becomes Alaska's next lieutenant governor.
Johnson is the running mate of Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, and their ticket leads the governor's race.
It had 49.6% of first-choice votes in the Division of Elections' unofficial count Wednesday, 888 votes short of an outright majority. More than 30,000 ballots the state has received aren't in the results yet, by Alaska News' estimate.
If no one tops 50%, the race goes to a ranked-choice count. An Alaska News analysis found that on the ballots counted through Tuesday, the ticket would win that count against Republican Bernadette Wilson with about 56% of the vote.
Brawley said the plan is a contingency.
"We do not know the results of that election," she told the Assembly's Governance Committee. "However, in the job that I'm in, I have to plan for contingencies, and so what I'm sharing is not a done deal."
If Johnson leaves, the district that covers South Anchorage, Girdwood and Turnagain Arm would be down to one member, Keith McCormick. Brawley said that would last at least four months unless the Assembly appoints someone, and she recommended it do so.
"I think it is fair to that district that we consider filling that seat," she said.
The city charter sets the rules. When a seat opens, the Assembly has 30 days to appoint a replacement if it chooses, and that person serves until the next election.
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About Government
Government in Alaska takes in the state agencies, the Legislature and the city councils, borough assemblies and school boards that set public policy. It reaches from the governor's office and statewide departments to the boards and commissions of single towns.
Its work includes ordinances and resolutions, appointments to boards and commissions, agency rulemaking and the review of permits and licenses. State departments such as Environmental Conservation and Education propose, revise and repeal regulations, while local bodies handle liquor and marijuana license renewals, plan review rules and the naming of public buildings.
Recurring questions concern how vacant seats on elected bodies are filled, whether members are elected by district or at large, and which rules agencies keep or drop. Government overlaps closely with elections, public budgets, personnel decisions and the courts.
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