| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 31.88% (first round)[3] 38.35% (runoff)[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interactive map version Runoff results by precinct:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Alaska |
---|
The 2021 Anchorage mayoral election was held on April 6, 2021, to elect the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska.[1] As no candidate received at least 45% of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the highest vote share, Forrest Dunbar and Dave Bronson, advanced to a runoff on May 11.[2][5] The election was officially nonpartisan. Incumbent independent acting mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, first appointed to the position in October 2020, was eligible to run for reelection to a full term, but did not run.[6][7][8] The deadline to register to vote in the first round was March 7. Mail-in ballots were sent out starting on March 15. On May 21, 2021, after a narrow loss, Dunbar conceded the race to Bronson.[9] Bronson was sworn in on July 1.[5]
Ethan Berkowitz was elected mayor in 2015 and 2018 and was ineligible to run for a third term. On October 13, 2020, he announced his resignation through his chief of staff Jason Bockenstadt at a meeting of the Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage's city council, to be effective October 23. The resignation came after a reporter made allegations that he was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her.[10] Felix Rivera, chair of the Anchorage Assembly, was next in the line of succession to the office. After a failed attempt immediately following the resignation announcement, the Assembly met in a special meeting on October 16 to reorganize itself, installing Austin Quinn-Davidson as Assembly chair with Rivera as vice-chair. This move allowed Quinn-Davidson to succeed to the office of mayor and allowed Rivera to retain his position presiding over Assembly meetings.[10] Quinn-Davidson is both the first female and first openly gay mayor of Anchorage.[11] On November 4, the Assembly voted not to hold a special election for the position of mayor, meaning that the next election for the seat would be the regularly scheduled one in 2021.[12]
In the leadup to the general election, it was widely believed that there would be a runoff between Dunbar and one of the more conservative candidates.[5]
Campaign finance reports as of February 18, 2021 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate (party, if known) | Total raised | |
Anna Anthony | did not file | |
Dave Bronson (R) | $162,482 | |
Jeffrey Brown | did not file | |
Darin Colbry (R) | $0 | |
Forrest Dunbar (D) | $252,216 | |
Bill Evans (I) | $98,480 | |
Bill Falsey (I) | $106,285 | |
Heather Herndon | $0 | |
Jacob Seth Kern (D) | did not file | |
George Martinez (D) | $60,086 | |
Reza Momin | did not file | |
Mike Robbins (R) | $210,058 | |
Albert Swank Jr. | $0 | |
Jacob Versteeg | did not file | |
Joe Westfall | did not file | |
[27][24] |
Five candidates did not participate in either debate: Anna Anthony, Darin Colbry, Jacob Seth Kern, Reza Momin, and Jacob Versteeg.
2021 Anchorage mayoral election debates | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Date & time | Host | Moderator | Link | Participants | |||||||||||||
Key: P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee |
||||||||||||||||||
Dave Bronson | Jeffrey Brown | Forrest Dunbar | Bill Evans | Bill Falsey | Heather Herndon | George Martinez | Mike Robbins | Albert Swank Jr. |
Joe Westfall | |||||||||
1[28] | February 16, 2021
|
Tom Hewitt
|
P | N | P | P | P | N | P | P | N | N | ||||||
2[29] | March 18, 2021
|
West Anchorage
Community Councils |
Unknown
|
Not recorded
|
P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Dave Bronson |
Forrest Dunbar |
Bill Falsey |
Mike Robbins |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent pollster at APOC | Released March 8, 2021 | – (V)[b] | – | 20% | 22% | 8% | 8% | 9%[c] | 33% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 24,567 | 32.96 | |
Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 23,054 | 30.93 | |
Nonpartisan | Bill Falsey | 9,551 | 12.82 | |
Nonpartisan | Bill Evans | 7,073 | 9.49 | |
Nonpartisan | Mike Robbins | 5,766 | 7.74 | |
Nonpartisan | George Martinez | 2,753 | 3.69 | |
Nonpartisan | Heather Herndon | 451 | 0.61 | |
Nonpartisan | Jeffrey Brown | 307 | 0.41 | |
Nonpartisan | Anna Anthony | 306 | 0.41 | |
Nonpartisan | Albert Swank Jr. | 231 | 0.31 | |
Nonpartisan | Joe Westfall | 83 | 0.11 | |
Nonpartisan | Jacob Seth Kern | 52 | 0.07 | |
Nonpartisan | Reza Momin | 52 | 0.07 | |
Nonpartisan | Jacob Versteeg | 43 | 0.06 | |
Nonpartisan | Darin Colbry | 31 | 0.04 | |
Write-in | 205 | 0.28 | ||
Total votes | 74,525 | 100.00 |
In the leadup to the runoff, third-place primary finisher Falsey and sixth-place finisher Martinez endorsed Dunbar, while fifth-place finisher Robbins endorsed Bronson.[31][32] Fourth-place finisher Evans did not make an endorsement.
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[d] |
Margin of error |
Dave Bronson |
Forrest Dunbar |
Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska Survey Research | April 9–12, 2021 | 322 (LV) | ± 5.5% | 44% | 45% | 11% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 45,937 | 50.66 | |
Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 44,744 | 49.34 | |
Total votes | 90,681 | 100.00 |