By SUZANNE DOWNING
April 30, 2026 – Former state Sen. Natasha von Imhof has entered the 2027 Anchorage mayor’s race, setting up what could become one of the most closely watched municipal contests in the state.
Von Imhof, a Republican who represented South Anchorage in the Alaska Senate from 2017 to 2023, has filed a letter of intent to run in the April 2027 election. Her entry into the race confirms months of political speculation that she was preparing a challenge to current Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, or perhaps run for governor.
A longtime figure in Anchorage civic and political circles, von Imhof previously served on the Anchorage School Board and held key leadership roles in the Legislature, including co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee and chair of Legislative Budget and Audit. Her background in finance and public policy is expected to be a central theme of her campaign.
von Imhof, an Anchorage native, has served on her family’s Rasmuson Foundation board since 2005 and became its vice chair in 2021. She holds a degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Washington, and has a background in banking, including work with the National Bank of Alaska. She is currently a financial analyst with Latash Investments.
Her candidacy adds a high-profile name as she comes from one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in Alaska. It’s the same family that built the mighty Rasmuson Foundation, which has tremendous political pull in Alaska.
Von Imhof filed in a low-key manner without fanfare. Her record in Juneau suggests she will likely focus on fiscal discipline, government accountability, and Anchorage’s long-term economic outlook.
With more than a year until ballots are cast, the field is expected to grow.
16 thoughts on “Natasha von Imhof files to run for Anchorage mayor”
Until you move the mayors race and the assembly races to the November elections, any republican winning is just a pipe dream. You can’t beat the union phone banks or the get out the vote Muni employees against a population that has to deal with their everyday lives in the middle of April.
Wasilla did this and it can be done. Just need a referendum along with the repeal of the city gas tax and you will get the required signatures for an April election people will go to the polls to get the $.20 a gallon gas tax removed and vote for a republican.
Her first name gives it up. Its” Ah, Satan!, backwards LOL
You’re joking, right?
Natasha is an extremely smart and capable person, Anchorage would benefit immensely by voting her in.
She is certainly smart; her time on the ASD SB showed her conservative fiscal stripes, though that was a Sisyphian battle.
This was the same legislator who instead of calling out Government dependents on taxpayers for their wages she threw a temper tantrum just short of a grown woman jumping up n down and screaming Every Alaskan demanding the return of a full PFD are entitled people; to which a full PFD for every applicant benefits the state local economy more than paying government employees and foundation and grantees.
I seriously doubt she’d be a mayor who can fiscal responsibility to the municipality and there is one more thing there is the 10 Democrat (leftist) majority on the Assembly and one person can not pass a budget alone.
There’s an old Reaganism, Tina that goes: “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor”
Natasha was my state senator. Other than the PFD, she was pretty solid, putting her squarely in the 80% agreement. She most certainly be an improvement over whatever we have in office today. Try not to let perfect be the enemy of good. Cheers –
Same thoughts. Ms. Von Imhof’s sense of entitlement is very offensive. Harvard s***s. That said, I could easily vote for her against the current Leftist that has no constructive ideas on how to move Anchorage forward..
JMark, I am shocked at your naivete!
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No radical leftist, such as Scowls LaFrance, has any constructive ideas, or wishes for society to actually move forward. They are all members of a death cult that wishes to see civilization, and freedom, utterly destroyed. You should know this by now.
Over the decades Anchorage has had some very good mayors. I would bet von Imhof would be at the very least as good as any of them.
Natasha, you’ve got MY support.
Pretty good MRAK article written by Suzanne on march 23,2023. It’s worth your time if you’re considering voting for nut-asha. I’ll wait for a different republican to throw their hat in to the ring.
As an insider (ie: Financial Analyst) maybe her true talents can be expertly applied at the AK Permanent Fund Corp, helping grow the value of the portfolio exponentially so hopefully it could outpace the appetite of the Legislature and the Alaska citizens can eventually get a larger annual dividend?!?!
If I lived in Anchorage, She’d have my vote and contribution $$$$!!! Maybe I’ll send her some money anyway. Can I do that? LaFrance is a total disaster.
If Natasha can find a running mate named Boris, she has my vote!
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I am tired of the depredations of Moose and Squirrel.
“…as the secretary and treasurer for her family’s foundation, von Imhof gave us a glimpse into exactly what she thinks of the majority of Alaskans: They’re greedy and entitled. Maybe this lawmaking thing is not the best fit for her.”
(https://mustreadalaska.com/von-imhofs-momentary-lapse-from-stateswoman-to-spoiled-child/“)
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Arguably as true today as it was 5 years ago when those immortal words were written.
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No? What convinces us otherwise?
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Should be entertaining …is Rasmuson’s fortune enough to revive Anchorage after an 80’s-style exodus and Eaglexit?
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Clash of the Titans when Rasmuson’s Mayor girl meets Agnew-Beck’s Assembly Chair girl …or marriage made in heaven, ’cause one’s got all the money in the world, the other’s got all the places to spend it, and property taxes get to be just icing on a really big cake?
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Word to you homeless-industrial complex players: your dream could be coming true, so you’re doing what you gotta do to get the fix in, no?