By THERESA BIRD
Candidate filing period for Assembly, School Board and Service Area Board of Supervisors closed on Jan. 30.
Anchorage, if you want lower taxes and conservative social policies, we have a phenomenal opportunity to flip our Assembly on April 7th from a supermajority of radical Leftists to a conservative majority, and we shouldn’t let it go to waste.
The tax-and-spend policies enacted by “the Marxist Nine” – and good policies blocked by these same members – have driven the problems of crime, homelessness, and affordability into hyperdrive the last five years. Residents are now afraid to hike and bike on our trails and use our public parks and library due to unchecked crime and vagrancy. Millions of dollars’ worth of materials purchased for Mayor Bronson’s navigation center are sitting at the Port housing sand.
But if you have the right connections, millions more tax dollars are being poured into the highly lucrative homeless industrial complex, with no lasting, positive impact on the chronically homeless.
How about a thriving, accessible Downtown? Nope. Business owners and churches Downtown are forced to shell out tens of thousands paying for private security to keep their buildings intact and safe while crime goes unchecked (with the Berkowitz-era police station in the midst of it all). That doesn’t include the police reports and insurance deductibles pastors and congregations shell out for the break-ins. Yet property taxes continue to rise, new taxes are floated and voted without any debate (our Mayor is just full of surprises!), and mortgage and interest rates remain untenably high.
I once called Anchorage a dying city. I hope not. But if it is, the liberal Assembly is hastening its demise a la Jack Kevorkian. Then again, Mayor LaFrance’s Big, Beautiful Assessment (except for Rich Folks Like Her) is probably the real intention of the Leftists: destroy the Middle Class and drive them out of Anchorage. Those statistics are verified by the census numbers in the burgeoning Mat-Su Valley, and you can ask any builder whether they get better business, here or in the Valley. Hint: it’s not Muldoon or Downtown.
While things look bleak at the moment, that could all change in a little over two months. Assembly Members Jared Goecker, Scott Myers, and Keith McCormick are currently the only 3 reliable conservative members on a 12-member body. Myers is not running for re-election, but his Eagle River seat is reliably conservative. On the other hand, five seats held by Leftists are up for grabs in two months. If Anchorage voters fill these six seats with the strongest conservatives running, then the Assembly is suddenly a conservative majority of 8-4, and the city stands a decent shot at stemming the tide of regress.
Is Anchorage worth fighting for? You bet. And if you wish to remain in Anchorage raising your family, running your business, or living in relative peace and security, you’d better help get out the vote and flip the Assembly on April 7th . Here are my recommendations, and please share them with every registered voter you know and encourage them to vote:
If you live in District 1, North Anchorage: Vote conservative Justin Milette to replace term-limited Chris Constant. Website: miletteforalaska.com. (Nick Danger, Sydney Scout, and Max Powers are also running.)
If you live in District 2, Chugiak, Eagle River, JBER: Vote conservative Donald Handeland to replace conservative Scott Myers, who is not running again. Website: votehandeland.com. Handeland is endorsed by Goecker, Myers, and Jamie Allard, among others. (Kyle Walker is also running.)
If you live in District 3, West Anchorage: Vote conservative Brian Flynn to replace incumbent Anna Brawley. Website: flynnforanchorage.com. Flynn is endorsed by Goecker, Myers, Sami Graham, Mia Costello, among others.
If you live in District 4, Midtown: Vote conservative Dave Donley to replace term-limited Felix Rivera. Website: donleyforalaska.com. Donley is endorsed by Fred Dyson, Leigh Sloan, among others. (Janice Park and Kim Winston are also running.)
If you live in District 5, East Anchorage: Vote conservative Cody Anderson to replace incumbent George Martinez. Website: andersonforanchorage.com.
If you live in District 6, South Anchorage, Girdwood, Turnagain Arm: Vote conservative Bruce Vergason to replace incumbent Zac Johnson. Website: bruceforanchorage.com. (John Stiegele and Janelle Anausuk Sharp are also running.)
Anchorage desperately needs a sea change in order to flourish again. We have two months to make these candidates household names so nobody texts you asking, “who should I vote for?” when our ballots arrive in March. Please print this list, take a screen shot, and share it widely with your friends and neighbors. Know your district and your candidates.
Let’s seize the moment: get out the vote, flip the Assembly, and start to reclaim Anchorage.
Theresa Bird a wife and homeschooling mother of nine. She earned her BA in Philosophy at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH. She lives in Anchorage.
8 thoughts on “Theresa Bird: Let’s flip the Assembly and reclaim Anchorage”
Whine whine whine, still whining about Berkowitz. Wake up, it’s 2026, why are you still whining about Ethan ?
Mr Penis Cookies ? No thanks. In fact no thanks to any MAGA hard right extremist, especially the ones who want to interject their religion into my politics.
The Bronson regime set this city back decades, the incompetence and the lawsuits that taxpayers had to pay for.
Why would you want to bring that back ?
If there is the most minuscule iota of a coherent and rational argument in your inchoate rambling diatribe here, I am still trying to find it.
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But I will give you an “A” for your projection of the sins and faults of radical leftism extremism onto your political opponents, those being the sane minority of voters in Anchorage.
Over the past two years, flipping Assembly seats DEPENDS on how engaged and active conservative neighbors from each district was attending and participating on their community councils
Voting is not enough. That’s easy. Anyone can fill in an oval. The Hard Work is attending and participating at your community councils.
I think we on the Right side of Anchorage are not there yet. If I know my God of the Bible. He is a righteous judge. If we put in the work and sow good seeds into changing government then you’ll get a desired harvest. However if our Right side didnt do anything at their community councils the last two years, why should we be rewarded for doing nothing?
Except Eagleriver, out all the other Candidates Dave Donley is the only one who stands a good chance of election coming out of a District that’s democrats out number other voters by 600-900 votes each election cycle. Because if his work ethic, his good standing and public relations with council leaders. I pray God shows him favor because of his hard work efforts he consistently showed, I’ll be holding His Word to it that His Word alludes to whatever you put into your field you’ll get the harvest of your work. Eventually.
Martinez, Johnson, Brawley are all returning. Most likely. They all been active staying in the loop and involved in the councils making up the districts they represent.
If you want Anchorage to return backward to more conservative principles and value system, it’s going to take a lot of Work. Just as much work that Democrats have done sowing the progressive and socialist value system in anchorage.
I hadn’t noticed before but the backdrop “art” in the lead image is horrible. Just who the hell decided to put that garbage up there?
More to the point, I’m looking forward to getting rid of the likes of Brawley but I have little hope for dumb Anchorage voters.
Did anyone else glance at the title of this article and, for a split second, think it said ” Let’s flip the assembly the Bird” ?
That has already been done!
Still mail-in voting? Best wishes.