Graphic by Kyle Ivacic.
After April 2, the start to Anchorage’s mayor’s race finally came to an end. The race — expected to reach a runoff due to neither of the four leading candidates reaching 45% of the vote — was expensive and extensive. This was due in part to its early start and the high political profile of Dave Bronson’s mayoral administration.
While positioned as a formidable challenger due to his endorsements and policy background, former Legislator Chris Tuck — at 8% — fell behind in early results — trailing former Anchorage Economic Development Corporation Chair Bill Popp — at 17%. Former assemblywoman and one-time State House candidate Suzanne LaFrance narrowly led incumbent Mayor Dave Bronson by a margin of 36% to 34%.
LaFrance’s narrow lead over Bronson comes with a swift push to the May 14 runoff. After accruing a wide fundraising lead over other non-incumbent challengers and high-profile endorsements from labor groups, her campaign was positioned to directly challenge Mayor Bronson going into April. Bronson’s campaign was expecting this result, with the mayor telling TNL in March: “If we get to a runoff here in May, it'll probably be me and Suzanne.”
During his time with TNL, Mayor Bronson accused LaFrance of enabling dysfunction in the municipal government during COVID-19 and in the run-up to his time in office.
“My administration is standing between single party governance in the city,” Bronson said during his interview, “and the balance that we need within our government.”
LaFrance asserted her confidence in her campaign after results came in.
“I was really excited by the results and happy to be moving to the runoff,” she said in a call with TNL on April 3 “I’m really proud of the campaign that we ran, we’ve got some good endorsements.”
The opposition candidate looked forward to using her fundraising and polling lead over Bronson to consolidate a coalition of voters that voted for Tuck and Popp.
“We’re building up our team, doubling canvassing efforts.”
She also praised down-ballot results, with all current school board incumbents retaining seats and most proposed city bonds — except for one that would provide outdoor public restrooms and one that would build new cemeteries in Girdwood and Eagle River — passing.
In March, LaFrance said of Bronson: “He came in with zero experience and had to learn Robert's Rules, and had to try to learn the processes as well,” drawing a contrast between her public-and-private sector experience and the mayor’s.
TNL did not receive a response from Bronson’s campaign on April 2 or 3, but they are expected to mirror their 2021 strategy that defeated then-assemblymember Forrest Dunbar. In that year, his team focused on grassroots efforts prior to the runoff, ramping up spending after citywide elections to take advantage of a less-crowded field.
Aside from the mayor’s race — eight out of nine bonds put on the ballot are expected to pass. All current school board incumbents up for election — Pat Higgins, Dora Wilson, Carl Jacobs and Mark Littlefield — held wide leads over their challengers at 58%, 63%, 58% and 100% respectively.
Ballots for the mayoral runoff elections will be mailed to Anchorage voters starting April 30, with the election occurring on May 14.
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