Here’s a good recap of the Anchorage Mayoral election turnout and a thought-out prescient look at what we can expect as far as voter splitting possibilities in the runoff between Ethan Berkowitz and Amy Demboski. Excerpts from John Aronno at the Alaska Commons blog:
Ethan Berkowitz carried the day, securing nearly 37 percent of the municipal wide vote. His closest rival was Amy Demboski, with 24.4 percent. Former Anchorage Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Halcro finished in show with 21.7 percent of the vote, and former Assemblyman and Anchorage lawyer Dan Coffey stumbled across the finish line with under 15 percent.
As healthy as the plurality of votes afforded Berkowitz, it wasn’t enough to crown him victor. Anchorage requires that mayoral candidates secure 45 percent of the vote, which he failed to do. He and Demboski are headed for a runoff election, which will be decided three weeks subsequent to the Assembly certifying the election. The next Assembly meeting is scheduled for April 14, meaning the runoff election will likely take place in early May.
The first endorsement was doled out shortly after 11pm. Sullivan is backing Demboski “100%,” according to a tweet sent out by her campaign.
Coffey had a lot of support from the business community and more establishment Republicans; a constituency that might not be overwhelmingly eager to cross into the tea party politics embraced by Demboski. And Berkowitz has a lot of crossover support from more centrist conservatives for the same reason. But history tells us that conservatives tend to vote for conservatives, and as centrist as Berkowitz has been in his last couple of campaigns, his detractors — most notably the Americans for Prosperity group — have been framing him as a tax and spend liberal yearning for a state or municipal income tax. Demboski has used that narrative against him all along. Now she has no one else to worry about.
It should also be noted that this year’s municipal election turned out just one quarter of registered voters to the polls. The last mayoral contest turned out nearly 36 percent. So, that’s pretty embarrassing, but relatively easy to explain.
How the votes may calcify at the runoff:
Via alaskacommons.com
image credit Alaska Commons
