4 Special Coverage

Voters chose not to implement a new seasonal sales tax system in Juneau next year, but approved two measures that aim to reduce the tax burden on individual residents. That’s according to the final results for Juneau’s municipal election released on Tuesday.

 Meanwhile, voters elected a new face to the Juneau Assembly over a two-term incumbent. 

Nano Brooks unseats incumbent Wade Bryson for Assembly District 2

Three seats were up for grabs on the Juneau Assembly this year, but only one was contested. 

District 2 Assembly candidate Nano Brooks ousted longtime incumbent Wade Bryson from his seat on the Assembly. Bryson was seeking reelection for his third and final term on the Assembly. Brooks ultimately won by 391 more votes.

This will be Brooks’ first time serving in public office after two previous Assembly runs, and he said he’s excited to bring new energy and ideas to the Assembly. He said he hopes his successful campaign running against an incumbent will inspire others to put their hat in the ring. 

“It doesn’t have to be what everyone would consider the status quo — that you get your two terms and you’re guaranteed a third,” he said. “I just showed that that’s not always the case. So maybe that’ll help other people get more engaged and give things a shot in the future.”

Bryson declined an interview following the final results. 

Incumbent Assembly members Greg Smith and Ella Adkison ran unopposed for their seats. Smith will now serve his third and final three-year term on the Assembly, while Adkison will serve her first full term. She was originally elected to the Assembly in 2023 to fill the remaining two years in the term of a member who resigned. 

Tax cuts pass, seasonal sales tax fails

Voters passed Propositions 1 and 2, which were both put on the ballot by an advocacy group called the Affordable Juneau Coalition.

Proposition 1 caps the rate the city uses to determine how much residents pay in property taxes each year. Results show that yes votes narrowly led by 157 votes. Proposition 2 exempts essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. Votes in favor of the proposition led handily by nearly 4,000 votes. 

Angela Rodell, the treasurer of the Affordable Juneau Coalition, said the results show that Juneau voters aren’t satisfied with the status quo. 

“We are thrilled with the turnout and the response and the engagement,” she said. “Voters have overwhelmingly spoken to focus on affordability and must-haves in Juneau.”

The Juneau Assembly put Proposition 3 on the ballot, which sought to implement a new seasonal sales tax system next year. 

Assembly members argued the change would have allowed the city to take advantage of the 1.7 million cruise passengers that come to town each summer, while giving year-round residents a break during the winter. It was also meant to recoup some of the city revenue lost if voters passed the other propositions. 

However, the proposition failed by 1,488 votes. 

“I think it’s pretty unfortunate that there wasn’t more support for a seasonal sales tax,” said Assembly member Christine Woll. “I don’t think that people have a clear understanding about the deep, deep cuts to city services that we’re going to have to make as a result of these results.”

Woll said the final results mean the city is now estimated to face upwards of a $12 million revenue shortfall this year — and every year moving forward. She said that’s not going to be an easy fix and will require some tough community conversations. 

“People have suggestions on particular projects they don’t like, which can save a few million here and there, but we have to make those cuts to our operations so that every year we’re spending $10 to $13 million less,” she said. “I am concerned about the public’s reaction when they see the level of cuts that we’re really talking about.”

Rodell challenged that, saying she thinks the outcome presents an opportunity to the Assembly to focus on needs versus wants. She argued that cutting services is not the only answer. 

“There are things that the city can focus on to grow the tax base and to generate additional revenue that doesn’t involve raising taxes on the backs of residents and working families,” she said. 

New faces elected to school board

Steve Whitney, Melissa Cullum and Jenny Thomas won the top spots in the race for the three open seats on the Juneau Board of Education. Thomas surpassed Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson by 132 votes.

Write-in candidate and current board president Deedie Sorensen trailed behind all other candidates. 

Voter turnout 

In total, 10,263 registered voters had their ballots counted in this year’s municipal election – that’s just under 37% of registered voters in Juneau compared to last year’s 38%, which was the highest voter turnout of the last 10 years.

The Juneau Assembly will meet for its reorganization meeting to swear in new members on Monday, Oct. 27. New school board members will be sworn in at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28. 

Alaska Congressman Nick Begich has a new challenger.

Rev. Matthew Schultz of First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage launched his campaign Monday.

Schultz is well known in Anchorage progressive circles and on social media. He’s spoken at “No Kings” protests and champions affordable health care, social justice and LGBTQ rights.

He’s running as a Democrat but says he hopes to bridge the political divide by listening to other Alaskans.

“People have spent so much time treating politics as a war zone that we’ve forgotten that it’s supposed to be a construction zone and we’re supposed to gather together and build something better together,” he said.

Begich, in a speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives convention this weekend, focused on the economic benefits of the budget reconciliation bill Congress passed, particularly how it advances oil development in Alaska.

Schultz was among thousands of Alaskans who rallied against the bill this summer, citing the impact it would have on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor.

Schultz plans to keep his full-time job at First Presbyterian as he campaigns.

He is a first-time candidate but said he has a lifetime of public service.

“We’re simply doing good for the sake of doing good,” he said. “And I think that’s a different lens to view our community service than our current representative has.”

Schultz enters the race with a big cash disadvantage. Begich has raised more than $2 million for his campaign so far this year.

Another Democrat, John Brendan Williams of Fairbanks, has also filed paperwork to run for U.S. House in the 2026 election. He hasn’t reported any fundraising so far.

Democratic Fairbanks Sen. Scott Kawasaki violated ethics law by holding constituent events too close to the 2024 state primary, a panel of the Alaska Legislature concluded in a report published Friday.

The report was published by the Senate subcommittee of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Ethics, which recommended no penalty.

Under the Legislative Ethics Act, a legislator in a campaign cannot use state funds “to print or distribute a political mass mailing to individuals eligible to vote for the candidate” if the mailing takes place during a period that begins 60 days before the primary election and ends one day after the general election.

According to the report, Kawasaki e-mailed constituents a newsletter, distributed informational flyers and held a “Picnic in the Park” event to observe the opening of his office in Fairbanks.

Kawasaki, who defeated Republican Leslie Hajdukovich in the November general election, faced only Hajdukovich in the primary, making the race uncontested. In Alaska, the top four vote-getters advance from the primary election to the general election. Kawasaki and Hajdukovich were the only two registered candidates.

Kawasaki was first elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives in 2007, and to the Senate in 2019. He ran for re-election in 2024 to represent Senate District P.

Reached by phone on Friday, Kawasaki said that “it’s just sort of disappointing to have this be said and politicized, and then it becomes a potential issue in the future campaign.”

“It was a technical violation,” he said, “and I think it was unfairly weaponized against us just because of who we were running against.”

The outcome of Juneau’s municipal election is beginning to take shape as preliminary results continue to roll in. The city clerk’s office released another batch of results that include ballots cast on Election Day on Friday evening. 

The results paint a similar picture compared to the first round results shared earlier this week. More voters appear to be in favor of Propositions 1 and 2, but oppose Proposition 3. 

Proposition 1 seeks to cap the rate the city uses to determine how much residents pay in property taxes each year. “Yes” votes narrowly outpace “no” votes by less than 200 votes. 

Proposition 2 would exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. Nearly 70% of voters are in favor of it passing so far. 

Proposition 3 would implement a new seasonal sales tax system next year to take advantage of cruise tourists. “No” votes lead by more than 1,500 votes. 

District 2 Juneau Assembly candidate Nano Brooks continues to grow his lead over incumbent Wade Bryson for his seat. Brooks now leads by more than 400 votes. 

Steve Whitney, Melissa Cullum and Jenny Thomas are now leading in the race for the three open seats on the Juneau Board of Education. Thomas surpasses Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson by 127 votes after trailing behind in previous results. 

Write-in candidate and current board president Deedie Sorensen continues to trail behind all other candidates. 

Voter turnout as of Friday’s results was just over 35%. The results shared are subject to change and more preliminary results will be shared in the coming weeks. The city will certify results on Oct. 21. 

Preliminary results are in for Juneau’s 2025 municipal election. 

They show that most residents don’t want to implement a new seasonal sales tax system in Juneau next year, but are in favor of the two measures that aim to reduce the tax burden on individual residents.

According to the results shared by the city, 3,534 people voted no on Proposition 3 while 2,514 people voted yes — a 1,020-vote difference. 

Proponents say the change would take advantage of 1.7 million cruise passengers that come to town each summer, while giving year-round residents a break during the winter. Opponents say the system won’t actually save residents money in the long run. 

Meanwhile, early results show both Propositions 1 and 2 passing. Both were put on the ballot by an advocacy group called the Affordable Juneau Coalition.

Proposition 1 seeks to cap the rate the city uses to determine how much residents pay in property taxes each year. Results show yes votes are leading by less than 100 votes. 

Proposition 2 would exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. Votes in favor of the proposition led handily, with 4,173 people voting yes, while 1,867 people voting no.

District 2 Assembly candidate Nano Brooks narrowly outpaces incumbent Wade Bryson for his seat on the Assembly. Brooks is leading by a mere three votes. 

Incumbent Assembly members Greg Smith and Ella Adkison ran unopposed for their seats. Smith is seeking his third, three-year term on the Assembly, while Adkison is seeking her first full term. She was originally elected to the Assembly in 2023 to fill the remaining two years in the term of a member who resigned. 

Steve Whitney, Melissa Cullum and Jeremy “JJJ” Johnson are leading in the race for the three open seats on the Juneau Board of Education. Write-in candidate and current board president Deedie Sorensen trails behind all four candidates on the ballot by nearly 1,000 votes. 

Voter turnout as of Tuesday’s results was just under 22%. However, things could change significantly. The tally shared on Tuesday only includes ballots that were mailed in or dropped off before Election Day. That means there could be thousands of votes left to be counted. 

The results shared Tuesday night are subject to change —  more updated preliminary results will be shared by the city in the coming weeks. Results won’t be certified by election officials until Oct. 21. 

Find the latest election news at ktoo.org/elections.

Tuesday is municipal Election Day in Juneau, and voters will decide on three Assembly seats, three school board seats and three key local tax measures. Residents cast their ballots at vote centers and ballot drop boxes open across town. 

Election workers emptied out the ballot box outside City Hall on Tuesday morning as Jev Shelton went to cast his ballot. 

Shelton said he doesn’t think any of the propositions should pass, but took particular issue with Proposition 1. That measure seeks to cap the rate the city uses to determine how much residents pay in property taxes each year. 

“It just leads to a major step backward in this community, which is losing population, losing influence, and is needing to make itself a bit healthy and a bit more attractive than it’s doing,” he said. “That was not the way to do it.”

Another resident outside City Hall, Lawrence Siverly, said he wasn’t familiar with the candidates up for election. He came to vote on the ballot measures. He said he voted yes on Proposition 1 because his son is a homeowner here, and yes on Proposition 2, which would exempt essential food and residential utilities from local sales tax. 

“Since I’m a senior, I already have benefits for food, but I think that should be available for everybody that lives here,” he said. 

But Siverly says he voted no on Proposition 3, which would implement a new seasonal sales tax system in Juneau next year. Proponents say the change would take advantage of the 1.7 million cruise passengers that come to town each summer, while giving year-round residents a break during the winter. Opponents say the system won’t actually save residents money in the long run. Siverly says he voted against it because he doesn’t want to pay a higher rate in the summer. 

Brian Fox walked outside the Mendenhall Valley Public Library after voting in person. Fox didn’t share how he voted, but said he wants to make things more livable in Juneau.

“I know that the cost of living here, and I’m acquainted with it very well, having lived here and in Fairbanks previously,” he said. “The cost of many things is sky high, some of it a little out of proportion.”

Back at City Hall, LaRae Jones is the volunteer supervisor for the election this year. Next to a stack of  “I Voted Today!” stickers featuring the Alaska state flag, she fills up a candy basket.

Jones said this is the last evening people can vote.

“People are wonderful, we love to have them come vote in person,” she said. “I just encourage everyone to vote.” 

The preliminary results of the election will be released Tuesday night after ballot boxes and vote centers close at 8 p.m. The initial results will only include ballots that were mailed in or dropped off before Election Day. Official results won’t be certified by election officials until Oct. 21.

KTOO reporters Alix Soliman, Jamie Diep and Yvonne Krumrey contributed to this report. 

Find the latest local election coverage at ktoo.org/elections.