Juneau elections

Juneau voters elected Paul Kelly and Ella Adkison as the newest members of the Juneau Assembly. They re-elected Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Christine Woll.

They also rejected a $27 million bond proposal to fund a new city hall – something all four winning candidates had favored.

Kelly thinks their victories and the city hall bond’s defeat show this wasn’t a one-issue election.

“I had a lot of conversations with people at the door – people who said they would consider voting for me but were against the new city hall,” he said. “I always had the caveat that if I get elected and the city hall passes, I’m going to make sure we do things differently.”

Voters rejected a $35 million bond proposal for a new city hall in 2022. The Assembly voted unanimously to put it back on the ballot, this time with a smaller bond, in July.

Hughes-Skandijs was on the Assembly during that vote, and said she’s still reflecting on the process. Like Kelly, she spoke to voters who supported her but opposed the bond. Some thought the city needed to explore other rental spaces, and some didn’t believe their property taxes wouldn’t go up. 

But others seemed to vote against it on principle, she said.

“If you talk one on one with someone, they agreed, ‘That’s a pretty good plan, your facts are good, you’ve convinced me. But I’m still going to vote no because I’m mad that you’d put it back on the ballot the next year,’” she said. “What I see from that is that people didn’t feel heard, and they didn’t feel respected.”

Hughes-Skandijs said one Assembly meeting kept coming up in conversation – the meeting where the Assembly voted to put the bond proposal on the ballot.

Assembly members can object to a motion in order to comment on it, even if they plan on voting yes. It’s a chance for them to explain their thinking and to acknowledge points made by members of the public who might have been opposed.

The vote happened nearly two and half hours into the three-hour Assembly meeting. No Assembly members objected. 

“I think the reason no one did that is we had a packed agenda,” Hughes-Skandijs said. “I wish someone had said something. I still would have voted, at that time, yes. But I wish I had done a better job communicating with the public why we were doing it.”

Hughes-Skandijs said between skepticism about the Assembly’s process with the city hall bond and several candidates’ calls for more transparency in city government, she’s thinking about how they can make the Assembly’s decision-making easier for the public to understand.

“Clearly we’re failing at making the process easier for people to follow,” she said. “We’re doing the work in public, it’s in committee meetings. But if people are only watching the Assembly meetings, it feels like, ‘Where are those decisions being made?’”

Hughes-Skandijs said that for now, she’s ready to step back from the city hall issue. Then-City Manager Rorie Watt pointed out that ballot propositions have gone before voters multiple times before, but Hughes-Skandijs doesn’t think the city hall bond will – or should – go on next year’s ballot.

“I think someday it should be,” she said. “I think we take a break from city hall and focus on other much-needed issues.”

Final results in Juneau’s municipal election show areawide candidates Paul Kelly and Ella Adkison will be joining the Assembly while Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Christine Woll held onto their seats. David Noon and Britteny Cioni-Haywood will be the newest members of the Juneau School Board.

Meanwhile, voters soundly defeated the latest proposal to fund a new city hall.

Turnout was up this year. Nearly 34% of registered Juneau voters voted in this election, compared to 32.87% last year.

Kelly and Adkison win areawide seats

Two areawide seats were up for grabs this year. Paul Kelly held a strong lead in the 10-person race from election day, but Ella Adkison’s lead over Nano Brooks narrowed with each update. As of Friday, Adkison had just 116 more votes than Brooks.

But Adkison held her lead through the final count, receiving a total of 114 more votes than Brooks.

Kelly wound up with about 20% of the votes cast in the areawide race. He said he plans to continue the outreach he did to voters during the election.

“It’s still not quite a majority, or anything close to a majority of Juneau voters, so I think that’s really going to shape my first term in office,” he said. “It’s going to need to be a lot about constituent outreach.”

Kelly will serve a three-year term, and Adkison will serve the remaining two years of former member Carole Triem’s term.

Incumbents win district seats

Assembly members Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Christine Woll won the District 1 and 2 races, respectively. Hughes-Skandijs received 1,462 more votes than Joe Geldhof, and Woll received 2,475 more votes than David Morris.

“One of the most fulfilling things I’ve gotten to do is represent the people of Juneau in this capacity,” Hughes-Skandijs said. “It’s a good feeling to still have folks want you there.”

Hughes-Skandijs said she’s eager to continue the Assembly’s efforts to increase access to housing in Juneau. In the last year, they’ve increased the city’s accessory dwelling unit grants, started a short-term rental registration program and approved a discounted land sale to Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority.

She and Woll will each serve another three-year term.

Noon and Cioni-Haywood elected to school board

David Noon and Britteny Cioni-Haywood held strong leads for the two available school board seats from the first vote count. In the end, Noon got 5,739 votes and Cioni-Haywood got 5,377. 

The third school board candidate, Paige Sipniewski, was the only candidate to embrace culture war issues like restricting the rights of transgender students and banning certain books from school libraries. She got 3,061 votes. 

Noon, a history professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, said he’s heard from teachers and other staff about declining morale amid flat-funding from the state and new mandates from the Alaska Reads Act.

“That’s one of the things in the district I’m most concerned about – the possibility that we’re going to lose some really good teachers who’ve been here for a really long time, or we’re going to fail to retain some quality educators and staffers who are new to the district,” he said.

Cioni-Haywood said she’s looking forward to bringing her experience with budgeting to the school board. She previously directed the state’s Division of Economic Development.

“I feel like there are no easy decisions left,” she said. “I think one of the most important things when you’re facing those types of decisions is to be very transparent and to be very clear as to what the consequences are going to be.”

Cioni-Haywood is the chair of Juneau Community Charter School’s board. She said she plans to step down as chair but remain a board member.

Noon and Cioni-Haywood will replace Brian Holst and Martin Stepetin on the school board. Holst has been on the board since 2014, and Stepetin was elected in 2020.

City hall bond rejected

Last year, 246 more people voted no than yes on a $35 million city hall bond proposal. This year that margin grew to 633 votes even though city leaders reduced the size of the bond and mounted a $50,000 campaign to advocate for the project.

“There’s probably many different reasons why people voted no, and now it’s our job to listen to the public and figure out how to move forward in a thoughtful way,” said City Manager Katie Koester.

Koester said the $16 million the Assembly has allocated to City Hall could be spent on repairs and renovations at the current building. She said city staff would discuss any potential renovations or leases at other office space with the Assembly.

“It’s important that the space is convenient and accessible,” Koester said. “What that might look like in the future is a very open-ended question right now.”

In Juneau’s latest vote count, two incumbent Assembly candidates extended their already large leads, while the race for two areawide seats tightened slightly. Friday’s update did not change the status of any of the races.

Wednesday morning’s initial count showed voters opposing the $27 million bond proposal for a new city hall, but only by 112 votes. That margin has now grown to 394 votes — 3,395 for and 3,789 against. 

The incumbent candidates for Juneau Assembly Districts 1 and 2 were both well ahead of their challengers in the initial count, and the update showed the gaps widening.

In the District 1 race, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs’ lead over Joe Geldhof grew from 839 to 1,226 votes. In the District 2 race, Christine Woll’s lead over David Morris has grown from 1,391 to 2,019 votes.

The areawide race, where 10 candidates are vying for two Assembly seats, got slightly closer. Paul Kelly (2,731 votes) and Ella Adkison (2,360 votes) still lead, but Adkison’s margin over Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks (2,179) shrank by 28 votes.

In the race for two open school board seats, David Noon (4,558 votes) and Britteny Cioni-Haywood (4,267) both extended their large leads over Paige Sipniewski (2,372 votes). 

Friday’s update included 2,189 votes counted since the first results were released early Wednesday morning. So far, officials have counted 7,387 ballots. 

In last year’s municipal election, 9,137 people voted.

Election officials will post updated results a few times until they’re certified on Oct. 17.

The outcome of the $27 million bond proposal for a new city hall is unclear after Juneau election officials shared preliminary results early Wednesday morning.

According to the results, 2,582 people had voted no and 2,470 people had voted yes. But there are likely thousands more votes left to count — the first batch of results only includes ballots received before Election Day. 

City leaders say building a new city hall with underground parking would cost $43.3 million. The preferred location is on Whittier Street, next to the Zach Gordon Youth Center.

Last year, voters narrowly rejected a $35 million bond proposal for the project – just 246 more people voted no than yes. This year’s city budget put $10 million more toward the project, which allowed for a smaller bond.

The city also spent $50,000 to advocate for the project. Rorie Watt, who just left the role of city manager, said taxpayer money would be better spent on a new city hall than on maintenance at the current building and rent at four others.

Still, voters like Kara Johnson opposed the bond. At the downtown polling place on Tuesday, Johnson said she agrees that Juneau’s municipal buildings need work, but she was frustrated with the city’s approach.

“They were shot down once, and they basically turned around and said, ‘We’re just going to put it back to the voters,’” Johnson said. “I’d like to see a little more restructuring on their financial planning.”

Others, like Catherine Wilkins, supported the bond.

“I am very much in favor of the new city hall,” Wilkins said. “Even though I don’t think it’s going to pass, I wanted to be sure to register my vote in favor.”

Voter Sylvia Madaras said she was torn.

“I see the benefit of the long-term financial investment of making a building that is not falling apart,” she said. “Also, I understand we don’t have a lot of funds right now. Everybody’s asking for money, and we’ve got a lot of projects that we’re working on.”

Election officials will post updated results as they process the remaining ballots  until the election is certified on Oct. 17.

Preliminary results in Juneau’s municipal election show incumbents on the Assembly holding healthy leads and a few of the 10 candidates in the areawide race separating themselves from the pack. 

The race for two Juneau School Board seats does not appear to be close, with David Noon and Britteny Cioni-Haywood each getting nearly twice as many votes as Paige Sipniewski.

But the ballot measure to fund a new city hall was much closer, with votes against the bond measure leading by just 112 votes.

Voters may not know the races’ outcomes for up to two weeks. Tonight’s tally only includes ballots sent in or dropped off before Election Day, and there are likely thousands more left to count. 

Officials had counted 5,198 ballots by Wednesday morning, and 27,767 people are registered to vote in Juneau. Voters cast 9,137 ballots in Juneau’s 2022 municipal election.

Election officials will post updated results a few times until they’re certified on Oct. 17.

‘Democracy only works when people have choices’

At the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Tuesday morning, election workers set up booths as voters trickled in. Some were there to vote in person. Others swapped completed ballots for “I voted” stickers. 

Last year, five incumbents ran unopposed for reelection to the Juneau Assembly and school board. This time, 14 people ran for four Assembly seats, and three people ran for two school board seats.

Voter Sylvia Madaras said she hadn’t seen this many candidates in a Juneau municipal election before. 

“I thought it was a sign that civic engagement was really high,” Madaras said.

Bill Oatman stopped by the library to drop off his ballot. He had filled out his ballot on Tuesday morning, and he was happy to see new names.

“I don’t consider politics a career thing,” he said. “So I like to see new people come in.”

Deputy Municipal Clerk Andi Hirsch said having so many candidates is better for an election.

“I love when there’s a contested race, or all races are contested,” she said. “I really think that helps drive conversation and turnout, because democracy only works when people have choices.”

Hirsch said Tuesday morning that turnout seemed to be about the same as last year, which was also the state’s first-ever ranked choice general election. 

Two school board candidates hold large leads

Three candidates vied for two seats on the Juneau School Board. Preliminary votes showed David Noon and Britteny Cioni-Haywood leading. Noon had 3,216 votes, Cioni-Haywood had 2,993, and Paige Sipniewski trailed with 1,646. 

Each of the top two vote-getters will serve a three-year term.

Incumbent Assembly members lead in Districts 1 and 2

Assembly members Alicia Hughes-Skandijs and Christine Woll ran for reelection against one opponent each. 

As of Wednesday morning, Hughes-Skandijs led challenger Joe Geldhof by 839 votes in the race for District 1 assembly seat. In the District 2 race, Woll led David Morris by 1,391 votes. 

Hughes-Skandijs has been on the Assembly since 2019. On Tuesday morning, she stood by the Juneau-Douglas Bridge holding her campaign sign in one hand and Woll’s in the other. 

She said voters told her the number of candidates pushed them to do their research.

“There’s been a lot more doing the step-by-step homework of, ‘I better go back and watch that forum,’” Hughes-Skandijs said. “My biggest hope today is that turnout is decent.”

Woll said this election felt different than her last one for a few reasons. For one, her last election was in 2020, so she couldn’t do the door knocking and in-person events she did this year.

Another difference was how often cruise ship tourism came up in her conversations with voters.

“Everyone wants to talk about cruise ships,” Woll said. “I was amazed at how consistently people across the political spectrum wanted to talk about how to manage tourism better.”

She said new Assembly members should talk to as many city staff and community members as possible about different topics.

“You’re not going to get another opportunity to be like, ‘Hey, I’m new, I don’t really know exactly what’s going on, tell me everything that you think,’” she said. “I had a few of those conversations when I started, and they were so valuable.”

In areawide race, early results winnow down large field

Ten people ran for two areawide Assembly seats. Preliminary results show Paul Kelly and Ella Adkison leading with 1,946 and 1,698 votes, respectively. 

Close behind were Nathaniel “Nano” Brooks (1,489 votes), JoAnn Wallace (1,340 votes) and Laura Martinson McDonnell (1,316 votes).

The five remaining candidates got fewer than 500 votes each.

Kelly turned out to wave signs at the Juneau-Douglas bridge on Tuesday morning, too. He was on the Juneau school board from 2018 to 2021 and ran for the District 1 Assembly seat in 2021. He said this year, voters were eager to talk about city hall, tourism, homelessness and other issues.

“I think there was a lot more engagement,” he said. “There were a lot more people who I had the chance to listen to, and a lot more people who wanted to listen to what I had to say.”

On the same street corner, Adkison waved to drivers. She said the many forums held this year helped the candidates build relationships with each other.

“Because there’s two seats, it’s been really great getting to know all the candidates, because if I win, I’m going to serve with one of them,” Adkison said. “In a sense, it makes the race more challenging, but I’m so happy to see the community buying in and being ready to serve.”

Across the street, Martinson McDonnell said she hopes this level of engagement continues after the election. She said voters talked to her about property taxes and the cost of living in Juneau. Others brought up topics like public safety and the graveyards on Douglas.

“I’ve learned so much about things that I had no idea were on people’s minds,” she said. “There’s a few really good things about election season, and one of them is that everybody gets to talk. Community priorities start coming up to the surface in a different way.”

KTOO’s Anna Canny and Yvonne Krumrey contributed reporting.

Voting in Juneau’s municipal election will wrap up Tuesday when vote centers and drop boxes close at 8 p.m. 

Four Assembly seats, two school board seats and a voter proposition asking whether to fund a new city hall are all on the ballot this year. 

But since by-mail elections take longer to tally, we won’t know who won for up to two weeks. That’s because the city’s election staff needs to allow time for all of the mailed ballots to arrive. They also need time to verify ballot signatures and to go through multiple rounds of tabulation to ensure accuracy. 

What happens

All of the ballots submitted before Election Day will be scanned and counted on Tuesday night, after voting ends. 

“Starting on Election Night at 8 p.m., we will actually start to scan those ballots and adjudicate them,” said City Clerk Beth McEwen. “Adjudication means we’re going to actually have human eyes on those ballots, looking to make sure the machine counted the vote the way the ballot appears to have been cast.”

The city expects to post those preliminary election results after 10 p.m. on Tuesday. 

After that, election workers will continue processing ballots that were submitted on Election Day or that continue to arrive by mail. They’ll also address any issues with the ballots. 

“If there are issues – like it’s missing a signature or there’s no reference signature, or there’s no personal identifier – if there’s any reason for a challenge, then that goes into a separate process,” McEwen said.

That process involves sending a cure letter to a voter with instructions on what they need to do to get their ballot counted.

The city will post updated results a few times until the Canvass Review Board certifies election results on Tuesday, Oct. 17. 

Last year’s Election Night results included 4,834 ballots, compared with 9,137 ballots in the final results.

How to submit your ballot on time 

Voting has been taking place since mid-September, when ballots were mailed out to voters. If you haven’t voted yet, McEwen recommends dropping ballots off in one of the city’s drop boxes — at Statter Harbor or the Douglas Library — or at the City Hall or Mendenhall Valley Library vote centers. 

If voters still plan to mail their ballots on Tuesday, McEwen says they should do it early. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Election Day to get counted. 

“It could be the post office isn’t going to actually process that until the next day, and your postmark isn’t going to be until the next day,” she said.

And if Juneau voters plan to vote in person on Tuesday, McEwen said, “go early.” 

“You may be waiting in line,” she said. “We had a lot of time with nobody coming during the two weeks leading up to Election Day, but we anticipate long lines, maybe a longer wait, on Election Day. That tends to be the Juneau trend.”

If you make a mistake while filling out your ballot, you can visit a vote center to request a replacement. The same thing goes if you’ve completed your ballot and want to change something but have not yet returned it. But if you’ve already sent in your completed ballot, it’s too late to change it now. 

How to witness the count

Anyone who wants to witness the ballot counting process can visit the city’s ballot processing center at 1325 Eastaugh Way off of Thane Road. The center opened last year so ballots could be tabulated in Juneau instead of going to Anchorage. Visitors must remain in the public viewing area. 

Find stories on all the races on this year’s ballot along with candidate profiles and other election information at ktoo.org/elections.