By SUZANNE DOWNING
April 6, 2026 – With just one day left before ballots are due, turnout in the Anchorage municipal election is pacing slightly ahead of 2025 — but overall participation remains unremarkable for a citywide vote that will determine control of the Anchorage Assembly and influence the direction of the Anchorage School District.
Voters are selecting six of the 12 Anchorage Assembly seats and two of seven Anchorage School Board positions, along with weighing a lengthy list of municipal bonds and a one-time $12 million tax levy for the Anchorage School District. The election is conducted entirely by mail, meaning there are no traditional neighborhood polling places. Ballots must be returned by mail or deposited in one of the municipal drop boxes, which close at 8 pm Tuesday.
Anchorage elections underway as ballots begin arriving in mailboxes
Under Anchorage’s vote-by-mail system, ballots continue to arrive for up to 10 days after Election Day if postmarked on time. Historically, about three-quarters of ballots are already in hand by Election Day, with the remaining quarter trickling in during the following week.
Election history shows that the midpoint of ballot returns typically occurred late last week, with returns climbing through the weekend and into Monday. By Tuesday, roughly 75% of expected ballots are usually received, while the remaining 25% arrive later, most within a few days, with very few coming in after the Friday following the election.
Turnout by region shows pockets of stronger-than-usual engagement. South Anchorage, for example, had reached roughly 19% turnout as of late last week, slightly better than typical early participation for that area. West Anchorage has also seen relatively heavy ballot returns, making it one of the key battlegrounds in determining the ideological balance of the Assembly.
The stakes are unusually high this cycle. If conservative candidates win several closely watched races, the Assembly could shift significantly, something that has not occurred in more than a decade. A win by Dave Donley on the Assembly, combined with a victory by Brian Flynn in West Anchorage, could create a 6–6 split between conservatives and the current progressive majority, dramatically changing the dynamics of budgeting, taxation, and municipal policy, not to mention veto overrides.
The West Anchorage race between Flynn and incumbent Anna Brawley is drawing particular attention. Turnout in the district is strong, and some voters who traditionally lean left may be frustrated with recent policy debates, including disputes over property rights and adverse possession proposals by Brawley, who wants to expand ways the city can seize private property. That dynamic could tighten what might otherwise be a predictable race.
East Anchorage is also being watched closely, where Cody Anderson is challenging Assembly member George Martinez, who moved to Anchorage from New York City, where he was a leader int he Occupy movement. Historically, conservatives have struggled in the district, but the contest is viewed as competitive this year. Anderson has reportedly raised more than twice the campaign funds of Martinez, and outside Democrat spending typically seen in Anchorage municipal races has been less visible than in previous cycles.
Beyond candidate races, voters are also deciding on multiple bond propositions and the proposed one-time $12 million tax levy for the Anchorage School District, which would provide short-term operational funding. The measure comes amid ongoing debates over school spending, drastically declining enrollment, and the district’s long-term budget outlook.
Because the election is conducted entirely by mail, voters cannot show up at a local precinct on Election Day. Ballots must either be mailed or placed in official drop boxes, sometimes known as “ballot coffins.”
Even with turnout slightly ticked up, the election remains on track for participation typical of Anchorage municipal contests, often in the 25 to 35% range. With margins in some races expected to be narrow, the final wave of ballots arriving after Election Day could determine whether the Assembly’s balance shifts or remains largely unchanged.
7 thoughts on “Anchorage election turnout slightly ahead of 2025, but still unremarkable as mail-in deadline approaches”
I was a 28 year resident of Anchorage and haven’t lived there since 2005. I may be wrong on current voter attitudes, but I get the sense that a lot of conservative and conservative leaning voters have just given up, or voted with their feet and moved to the Mat Su.
The importation of woke politicians such as Martinez Armstrong Berkowitz Rivera AQD etc has brought a lot of outside influence to a once conservative atmosphere and they seem to skate through elections with a checkered flag due to low voter turnout. It seems too easy for an outsider to sit in important meetings and turn the tide.
Remind again why voters should believe unelected officials whose bosses may well have vested interests in election outcomes?
.my ballot has already been received per Ballot Trax
The Republicans and their Conservative side they still have a lot of work ahead to change the direction of Anchorage. Reality: the direction won’t change just after one election if the more conservative minded candidates if they won this election. It’ll take fifteen years voting the same way and working their districts for over 10 years until the R’s can see fruit of their labor. The voters who are supporting more conservative minded candidates can’t give up EVEN when tough budget decisions are made and You are out of work because you were a government dependent.
Anchorage Republicans can’t use their disappointment if they lose this assembly election again as an excuse to just pack up and move north or south for greener pastures because Wasilla-Palmer is going blue. Unless their Republicans get off their high horses and stop being lazy butts! they got four years left before they are facing what we in Anchorage are facing. They already got Hobos begging every weekend i go up I see Hobos begging at that Fred Meyer corners. We exclaim! The hobos from
Anchorage are migrating into Wasilla! So despite any disappointment tomorrow the Republicans of Anchorage might as well as roll up their sleeves and work to flipping their districts starting at the community councils because American is getting smaller and there are lesser communities who couldn’t stand on their two feet with out government help and less communities whose people know true freedom. Win or lose the Republicans still have to keep their sleeves rolled up and ready to continue working.
Anchorage is worth fighting for when it Still holds the largest population and because it does send the most legislators into Juneau, it makes this region the most important to reclaim for the AKGOP.
We will find out how South Anchorage votes. I’m interested in how South Anchorage votes because of I know of there has been a shifting of Anchorage homeowners and tenant moving from downtown, east. midtown and West for South because of its “nicier” than the Anchorage neighborhood they just left. I know that has neighbors who sold their apartment to move in a South neighborhood.
If you are observant. You’ll notice the Hobos/drug addicts/public assistance dependents are increasing in numbers on the Abbott/Lake Otis and East Diamond Blvd and Old Seward and they are pushing southward down the highway to O Malley/Old Seward. So the new neighbors on the Southside they are not going to have their “nicer” neighborhood too much longer before it resembles the old Anchorage neighborhood they left.
There are places to vote in person but was really confusing in the messages that were sent to voters. Voters need to vote or don’t gripe!!