Fall campaigns begin

PALMER — Barring any withdrawals this week, voters now know the candidates vying for local election in October.

The marquee match up at the Mat-Su Borough level is likely to remain the three-way mayoral race between incumbent Palmer farmer Larry DeVilbiss, Willow dog musher and assemblyman Vern Halter, and dark horse candidate, retired Anchorage Daily News reporter and public transit advocate Rosemary Vavrin.

Halter’s District 7 seat will officially now go to the victor of a race between utility manager Randall Kowalke and hardware store owner Doyle Holmes. The two men stood on opposite sides of a contentious Fire Service Area mill rate increase and facility purchase earlier this year: Holmes was an outspoken opponent, and Kowalke generally supported both measures.

The District 6 seat formerly belonging to present Alaska Rep. Jim Colver (R-Wasilla) will go to either challenger Bob Doyle or incumbent appointee and Wasilla physician Barb Doty. Doty served out the remainder of Colver’s last term.

The District 3 seat being vacated by term-limited assemblyman Ron Arvin will go to either George McKee or Maria Serrano.

The deadline for certification of a potential vote outlawing many forms of marijuana business in the borough’s unincorporated areas is today at 5 p.m. Voters will also have a shot at changing the date of local elections from October to November and changing school board elections to geographic districts from at-large bids.

Mat-Su Borough School District School Board members Deborah Retherford and Sarah Welton face no registered opponents, but Seat E of Palmer Kelsey Trimmer will face of Wasilla Wade Long.

At the city level, five candidates will vie for three open seats in Palmer, where incumbents Richard Best and Kenneth Erbey will face off against David Fuller, Pete LaFrance, and Kenni Linden. LaFrance — an outdoor columnist for the Frontiersman and Mirror Lake Middle School teacher — was a former Democratic challenger for Alaska Rep. Shelley Hughes’ seat in the 2014 state elections. Linden is a field organizer at Planned Parenthood, according to her LinkedIn.com profile.

City voters will be the first to potentially exercise the local option on marijuana. Palmer voters narrowly favored legalization statewide, and the Palmer initiative is the first local attempt to ban retail businesses.

In Wasilla, Dave Wilson will run unopposed for Council Seat A. Deputy Mayor Alvah Clark Buswell III drew a single challenger in the form of Tim Burney. Voters also will decide the fate of a sales tax measure that would keep the existing 3 percent rate instead of decreasing to 2 percent after earnings goals for the new library are met.

In Houston, deputy mayor Lance Wilson is running unopposed for another three-year term. Incumbent councilwoman Alma Hartley drew two challengers: Dawnita Brunswick and Chris Johnson. Voters also will consider a 1 percent sales tax increase in the face of declining city tax revenues, which have forced the elimination of numerous city services, including the closure of the police department.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, and on Twitter @reporterbriano.