Anchorage, Alaska municipal elections, 2015
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The municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, held nonpartisan elections for mayor on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 5, 2015.[1][2] The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 13, 2015.[3]
Term limits prevented incumbent Mayor Dan Sullivan, elected in 2009, from running for a third term. A total of 12 candidates filed for the seat, including some well-known Alaskan politicos: Anchorage Assembly member Amy Demboski, former Alaska House of Representatives Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz, former Alaska House of Representatives member and 2006 Alaska gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro and former Anchorage Assembly members Dan Coffey and Paul Bauer.[4]
Legalized marijuana and a rise in violent crime were just some of the issues facing Anchorage's 2015 mayoral candidates. In 2014, Alaska voters approved a ballot measure legalizing marijuana in the state. Figuring out how to regulate marijuana in Anchorage proved to be a pivotal issue. Alongside the marijuana debate, candidates also tackled a sudden surge in violent crimes that stunned the city in early 2015. You can read more about these issues below.
Mayor
Candidate list
Note: Incumbent Dan Sullivan did not run for re-election.
April 7 General election candidates:
- Jacob Seth Kern
- Dustin Darden
- Amy Demboski
- Anchorage Assembly member - Timothy Huit
- Christopher Jamison
- Samuel Joseph Speziale III
- Ethan Berkowitz - Former Alaska House of Representatives Minority Leader
- Andrew Halcro - Former Alaska House of Representatives member and 2006 Alaska gubernatorial candidate
- Dan Coffey - Former Anchorage Assembly member
- Paul Bauer - Former Anchorage Assembly member
- Lance Ahern
- Spencer Halgren
May 5 Runoff election candidates:
Election results
| Mayor of Anchorage, Runoff Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
 Ethan Berkowitz |
60.7% | 42,835 | |
| Amy Demboski | 39.3% | 27,681 | |
| Total Votes | 70,516 | ||
| Source: Municipality of Anchorage, "Official general election results," accessed May 20, 2015 | |||
| Mayor of Anchorage, General Election, 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Ethan Berkowitz |
37% | 20,451 | |
| Amy Demboski |
24.1% | 13,337 | |
| Andrew Halcro | 21.6% | 11,956 | |
| Dan Coffey | 14.4% | 7,960 | |
| Dustin Darden | 1% | 571 | |
| Lance Ahern | 0.7% | 395 | |
| Paul Bauer | 0.4% | 217 | |
| Timothy Huit | 0.2% | 120 | |
| Write-in | 0.2% | 120 | |
| Jacob Seth Kern | 0.1% | 57 | |
| Christopher Jamison | 0.1% | 45 | |
| Samuel Joseph Speziale III | 0.1% | 31 | |
| Total Votes | 54,275 | ||
| Source: Municipality of Anchorage - Official general election results | |||
Note: Although Spencer Halgren was on the official candidate list, his name did not appear on the official results.
Issues
Marijuana
On November 4, 2014, Alaska voters approved a ballot measure titled "Ballot Measure No. 2 - 13PSUM An Act to Tax and Regulate the Production, Sale, and Use of Marijuana." The measure legalized the use and possession of marijuana in Alaska as well as the manufacturing and selling of marijuana related paraphernalia.
After its approval in November 2014, implementation of the measure proved tricky - not only on the federal and state levels, but on the local level, too. In Anchorage, citizens, elected officials and several 2015 mayoral candidates debated the best ways to move forward with legalized recreational marijuana. In December 2014, for example, mayoral candidate and assembly member Amy Demboski introduced a bill that would have banned commercial marijuana sales in Anchorage. The bill failed in a 9 to 2 vote, though in January 2015 the Assembly unanimously voted in favor of banning the use of recreational marijuana in public spaces.[5][6]
Two other 2015 mayoral candidates - Andrew Halcro and Dan Coffey - also commented on the issue. Halcro and Coffey both said that, though they did not support Ballot Measure 2, they would respect the decisions of Alaska and Anchorage voters.[7]
Violent crimes
In January 2015, Anchorage experienced a sudden surge in violent crimes, which included two fatal shootings that occurred within 48 hours of each other.[8] The surge attracted the attention of the city's 2015 mayoral candidates.[9] Andrew Halcro spoke in favor of utilizing gang and drug task forces to curb the prevalence of violent crimes and said, "When you have officers running from call to call, there’s no opportunity to be proactive in the community. Unless you have a comprehensive sustained public safety effort you aren’t going to make any progress." Dan Coffey argued for increasing the size of Anchorage's police force, saying, "We need to increase the size of the force. The city is growing and there’s problems that are here, and we need the sufficient force to do that."[10]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Anchorage Alaska Election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- United States municipal elections, 2015
- Anchorage, Alaska
- Alaska Marijuana Legalization, Ballot Measure 2 (2014)
External links
- Municipality of Anchorage - Elections
- Municipality of Anchorage - 2015 Official Candidate List
- Municipality of Anchorage - Official general election results
- Municipality of Anchorage - 2015 Official Runoff Election Results
Footnotes
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch, "Where they stand: Anchorage mayoral candidates Berkowitz and Demboski on the issues," April 8, 2015
- ↑ Charter of the Municipality of Anchorage, "Article XI, section 11.02," accessed February 16, 2015
- ↑ Municipality of Anchorage, "Elections," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch News, "Ethan Berkowitz joins race for Anchorage mayor," February 10, 2015
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch News, "Assembly kills proposal to ban marijuana sales in Anchorage," December 16, 2014
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch News, "Ordinance to ban public marijuana consumption in Anchorage passes unanimously," January 27, 2015
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch News, "Anchorage mayoral candidates approach local pot rules with caution," January 24, 2015
- ↑ KTVA, "Former APD detective talks crime trends in Anchorage," January 27, 2015
- ↑ KTUU, "Anchorage man charged with murder after muni's sixth shooting death this year," February 16, 2015
- ↑ KTVA, "Mayoral candidates address recent Anchorage violence," January 30, 2015
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