Hospital bond likely defeated, Lord leads for mayor in preliminary election results

By Jake Dye and Delcenia Cosman

Rachel Lord leads for Homer mayor, Casie Warner and John Osenga top the candidates for Seward City Council and Sarah Douthit outpaces Jeanne Reveal in the race for Kenai’s seat on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in the first unofficial borough election results posted on Tuesday evening. Results also show a lack of support for the South Peninsula Hospital bond proposition.

Many of the races in the Oct. 1 election were uncontested. Each of the three candidates for Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, as well as candidates for city council in Kenai, Soldotna and Homer all are likely to take their seats.

Tuesday’s unofficial results do not include absentee ballots, which still need to be resolved, and reflect only ballots that were cast at precincts on election day. Per the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s election timeline, certification of Tuesday’s borough election results is scheduled for Oct. 8.

Borough Clerk Michele Turner said Tuesday that the borough received 1,101 absentee ballot envelopes, delivered in person, by mail or by fax. Absentee ballots will be accepted, if postmarked on or before election day, until certification on Oct. 8.

Election results are as of about 10 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

Homer

Preliminary results show Homer City Council member and mayoral candidate Rachel Lord 51 votes ahead of Jim Anderson.

Of 1,193 total votes cast for a mayoral candidate, Lord has 622 and Anderson has 571.

Lord said that the race has been “fantastic, with so much community engagement.”

“I’m excited about the preliminary results, and look forward to the final counts coming in,” she wrote to Homer News in a text message Tuesday night. “There is so much love for this town, and I am deeply humbled and grateful for every vote supporting my run for Mayor. I stand ready to work with the City Council to work hard, listen and lead with experience on behalf of every Homer citizen.”

Anderson did not respond to request for comment from the Homer News, but on Facebook on Wednesday wrote that the margin was close and the race is “not over yet” with absentee ballots yet to be counted. He said the low voter turnout is “concerning.”

“I ran a clean and positive race,” he wrote. “I brought my energy to the table, and whatever the final determination is, I will still be fully involved in my community and pushing for more citizens to get out of the bleachers and into the field.”

Homer City Council members Shelly Erickson and Donna Aderhold, both uncontested candidates, retained their seats for another three years.

Erickson expressed gratitude for everyone who voted for her, and said she appreciated their faith in her “to do the right thing.”

“I look forward to the next three years,” she said. “I’m excited about all the things that we’ve been doing and the projects I’ve been working on, and I look forward to continuing those and to seeing Homer continue to move forward in a positive way.”

In a text message sent Wednesday morning, Aderhold said she appreciates the opportunity to serve Homer residents on the city council for another term.

The City of Homer released their preliminary election results Wednesday morning.

As for KPB Proposition 1, the borough may have to seek other avenues to fund renovations to South Peninsula Hospital. Preliminary election results show that the majority of voters in the South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area oppose the issuance of general obligation bonds to fund the project. 1,761 voters said no to Prop. 1, equaling 64% of the total 2,751 votes cast. 990 people supported the proposition — less than 36%.

In an email to Homer News on Wednesday morning, SPH Director of Public Relations and Marketing Derotha Ferraro thanked the SPH Operating Board, the South Kenai Peninsula Service Area Board, the KPB Assembly, and KPB Mayor Peter Micciche for supporting Prop. 1 going before service area voters. She also thanked voters who supported the ballot initiative.

“While this was not our desired result, we will continue to pursue our mission to promote community health and wellness by providing personalized, high quality, locally coordinated healthcare,” she wrote. “We will work with the borough to explore other ways to finance added services and campus improvements to address the community’s growing needs.”

In a text message sent Wednesday morning, Micciche said he appreciates those who voted and made their wishes known regarding the bond proposition. His job, he wrote, when the proposition was brought forward was to ensure “absolute transparency” so borough residents knew all the facts before casting their vote.

“Prior to becoming the borough mayor, I promised to transparently bring all major issues to the voters. That is the beauty of the bond issue — those voters subject to paying the associated mill levy ultimately make the decision,” he wrote. “SPH Service Area voters made their wishes quite clear with a nearly 2-1 margin against the SPH bond.

“I absolutely respect their decision.”

Seward

Challenger Casie Warner and John Osenga, one of the two incumbents, lead the race for the two seats on the Seward City Council. They’re outpacing the other incumbent, Mike Calhoon, and challenger John Howard.

Warner on Tuesday had 186 votes, supported by 64% of the 289 Seward voters. Osenga had 158, 55%.

Warner on Tuesday evening said that the election “brought a mix of emotions.”

“I’m incredibly honored and humbled to see the outpouring of support from the community I care so deeply about,” she said. “It means the world to know that people believe in my vision for Seward, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the place I love.”

Howard said Tuesday he hoped to see the citizens of Seward “speak up” and let the best candidates take the seats.

Osenga and Calhoon did not respond to request for comment on Tuesday.

Board of Education

Sarah Douthit leads in the race for Kenai’s seat on the school board. In preliminary results, she holds 66% of the vote with 317 ballots cast in her favor to 160 held by Jeanne Reveal. There were 477 total votes cast for the seat.

Douthit said Tuesday that she was encouraged to see Kenai voters come out for the election, thrilled to see that Kenai voters consider education as a priority. Education, she said, “is my passion.”

“I believe in transparency and communication, engaging with teachers and parents and having each voice heard and valued,” she said. “I am committed to working together to make decisions on what is best for our children, including ensuring our schools are nurturing and focused on student success.”

Reveal said that in the race, “there’s no real loser.”

“Sarah will be a great asset to the board,” she said.

Kelly Cizek and Tim Daugharty, both incumbents, will retain their seats after running uncontested races. Cizek represents Sterling and Funny River, while Daugharty represents Homer.

Cizek said she was eagerly anticipating continuing her time on the board, more familiar with the role now having spent a year in her seat after winning a special election to it last year.

She credited those who came out and voted despite so many uncontested races, participating in “an important duty and privilege that cannot be overstated.”

Daugharty said in a text message on Wednesday morning that he is “honored and humbled” to return to the school board for another term.

“There is a lot to do in this exciting time of education funding and policy. I look forward to the challenges,” he wrote.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

In the three races for seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, all three candidates were running unopposed. Incumbent Cindy Ecklund will continue to represent the eastern peninsula. Willy Dunne and James Baisden will join the assembly representing the southern peninsula and Kalifornsky, respectively.

Owing to the nature of the uncontested races, Baisden said Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised by the results, but he was excited to move forward and get to work. That means attending his last Kenai City Council meeting this week and then swearing into the assembly next week — “do a good job for those who elected us.

Dunne said he’s looking forward to once again serving southern peninsula residents in his third term on the assembly.

“I have a good working relationship with Mayor Micciche and look forward to collaborating with him and with the other members of the assembly,” he wrote in a text message to Homer News Tuesday night. “Thanks to the voters of District 9 for your support.”

Ecklund said that she felt the support of her constituents, crediting especially the communities she represents that vote only by mail. In another term on the assembly, she said there are issues she’s worked on that still need assembly action. Those are the borough’s “child care desert,” the need for stable funding at Cooper Landing Emergency Services and increasing financial efficiency in borough facilities.

“My hope is to continue to hear from and help our residents during this next term,” she said.”

Kenai

Incumbent Deborah Sounart and newcomer Sovala Kisena both ran uncontested races for the two open seats on the Kenai City Council. The second seat was vacated by incumbent Baisden, who ran successfully for election to the borough assembly rather than reelection to the Kenai City Council.

Sounart said Tuesday that she’s excited for her second term and excited to see Kisena join the council. She said that though she didn’t have a challenger, she felt it was important to “respect the process” by putting up her signs and participating in interviews.

She said she was grateful to the people who took the time to vote, and to the precinct workers and clerks who put in “a massively long day to keep our polls running like a well-oiled machine.”

Kisena, also on Tuesday, said he was feeling “a mix of gratitude, excitement and responsibility,” heartened by the community’s show of support.

“I feel a strong sense of responsibility to serve the residents of Kenai and I’m genuinely enthusiastic about the opportunity to make a positive impact,” he said.

Soldotna

Soldotna City Council incumbents Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings and Jordan Chilson both ran uncontested races, and both will retain their seats according to the preliminary results on Tuesday night.

Neither responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.

A quiet day at the polls

At voting precincts in Kenai, Soldotna and Anchor Point, poll workers reported little traffic.

In Anchor Point, election workers said Tuesday morning that voting traffic had been slow to start, but that they expected it to pick up around lunchtime and later in the evening after the end of the business day.

The Anchor Point precinct has more than 2,500 registered voters.

“We hope to see more people come out, because not only do we have the assembly district (seat), but we do have the (South Peninsula Hospital bond) proposition,” said election volunteer Bobby Ness.

Maureen Tracy, also serving as an election worker, agreed.

“We are free to vote in this country, and I would just like to get more people to respond,” she said.

The volunteers, also including Loretta Stapel, Mary Perry and Carol Slavik, pointed to the recent changes to availability of the borough voter information pamphlet — which are no longer mailed to every voter — as potentially impacting voter awareness.

Local resident Tim Fagan, who said he tries to participate in every election, also spoke to impacts caused by the lack of information or statements provided in the pamphlet by some of the municipal election candidates.

“Two of the three hospital board members were running unopposed, and the one seat that was running with two candidates, they really didn’t publish any information in the pamphlet on either one of the candidates. So I didn’t vote for any of the candidates,” he said. “I left them all blank, and I solely came out to vote for the bond proposition.”

Around 1 p.m. at the Challenger Learning Center, polling place for Kenai Precinct No. 2, Jenn Ticknor said that they’d seen “very low, low turnout.” Only 51 people had cast ballots at that time. Though the race for Kenai City Council only had two names on the ballot for two open seats, the race for Kenai’s seat on the school board had been thought to draw a few more interested voters.

Nonetheless, Ticknor said she’d heard the other two Kenai precincts, similarly, were quiet as of Tuesday afternoon.

In Soldotna, poll workers said the day had been slow — “slower than we’d hoped.” But, their hopes were still on a late afternoon rush when voters were getting off work.

Soldotna ballots had no contested races.

At the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, where the K-Beach precinct is located — and another ballot devoid of contested races — the word was the same: “slow.”

This story was updated on Wednesday afternoon to include additional comment.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com. Reach reporter Delcenia Cosman at delcenia.cosman@homernews.com.

Deborah Sounart, alongside family and supporters, waves signs alongside the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Supporters of Sovala Kisena wave signs at the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Supporters of Sovala Kisena, including Rainy Kisena, right, wave signs at the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Supporters of Kenai City Council candidate Sovala Kisena wave signs at the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Board of Education candidate Sarah Douthit and her supporters wave signs at the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

A voter fills out their ballot at the Kenai No. 2 Precinct in the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)