2021 Anchorage mayoral election

2021 Anchorage mayoral election

← 2018 April 6, 2021 (first round)[1] May 11, 2021 (runoff)[2] 2024 →
Turnout	31.88% (first round)[3] 38.35% (second round)[4]
Candidate Dave Bronson Forrest Dunbar Bill Falsey Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Alliance Republican Democratic Independent First round 24,567 32.96% 23,054 30.93% 9,551 12.82% Runoff 45,937 50.66% 44,744 49.34% Eliminated   Candidate Bill Evans Mike Robbins Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Alliance Independent Republican First round 7,073 9.49% 5,766 7.74% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated
Runoff results by precinct: Bronson:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80% Dunbar:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%
Mayor before election Austin Quinn-Davidson Independent Elected Mayor Dave Bronson Republican

Elections in Alaska
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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, results pending.^[2][5] The election is 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, Forrest Dunbar conceded the race to Dave Bronson.^[9] Bronson was sworn in on July 1.^[5]

Background[]

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]

General election[]

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]

Candidates[]

Major candidates[]

• Dave Bronson (Republican) - Former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot^[13]
• Forrest Dunbar (Democratic) - Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2016–present), member of the Alaska Army National Guard^[14][15]
• Bill Evans (Independent) - Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2014–2017), board and two-time co-chair of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce^[13]
• Bill Falsey (Independent) - Anchorage Municipal Manager (2017–2020)^[13]
• George Martinez (Democratic) - Educator, former special assistant to Ethan Berkowitz for economic development^[13]
• Mike Robbins (Republican) - Businessman^[13]

Other registered candidates[]

• Anna Anthony^[16]
• Jeffrey Brown, social services worker^[16][5]
• Darin Colbry (Republican), candidate for Governor of Alaska in 2018^{[16][13][17][18]}
• Heather Herndon, real estate developer, construction, project manager, accountant, portfolio private placement financier.^[16][17][13]
• Jacob Seth Kern (Democratic), perennial candidate^[8][16][19]
• Reza Momin^[16]
• Albert Swank Jr., civil engineer^[16]
• Jacob Versteeg, compliance examiner^[20]
• Joe Westfall^[16]

Withdrawn[]

• Eric Croft (Democratic), former state representative, former member of the Anchorage Assembly, former president of the Anchorage School Board, and candidate for Governor of Alaska in 2006^[8][17]
• Dustin Darden, maintenance worker and perennial candidate^[21][22][16]
• Nelson Jesus Godoy, activist and candidate for mayor in 2018^[8][16]

Declined[]

• Austin Quinn-Davidson (Independent), incumbent acting mayor^[17]

Endorsements[]

Fundraising[]

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]

Debates[]

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	Anchorage Daily News	Tom Hewitt	Video	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

Polling[]

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%

Results[]

General election results^[30]

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

Runoff[]

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.

Endorsements[]

Polling[]

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%

Results[]

Runoff Results^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Dave Bronson	45,937	50.66
	Nonpartisan	Forrest Dunbar	44,744	49.34
Total votes			90,681	100.00

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Official campaign websites

• Dave Bronson (R) for Mayor
• Forrest Dunbar (D) for Mayor
• Bill Evans (I) for Mayor
• Bill Falsey (I) for Mayor
• Heather Herndon for Mayor
• George Martinez (D) for Mayor
• Mike Robbins (R) for Mayor