Final candidate lists for borough assembly, school board posted

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB) has released its list of candidates for MSB Assembly and School Board for the upcoming November elections.

For the MSB Assembly, there are three seats open for Districts1, 2, and 4. All are for one-year terms set to end November 2026. This is because of a change made in January 2024 to transition their districts to a new staggered, four-year term cycle after the assembly voted to extend the term lengths for future assembly members and the borough mayor from three years to four years.

To implement the new schedule, some districts have a one-time, one-year term to align their election schedule. Candidates elected in other districts (3, 6, and 7) in November 2024 began serving the new four-year terms.

Another motivation for the change was to boost voter participation. Data showed that voter turnout was significantly higher during state election years compared to borough-only election years.

In a separate change also approved in 2024, candidates for local offices can now include their party affiliation on the ballot.

Assembly District 1 candidates are Michael Bowles, (R) and Michelle Heun (Undeclared). The seat has been held by Tim Hale since 2019 when he was first elected into office.

Assembly District 2 candidates include incumbent Stephanie Nowers (Nonpartisan) and Dana Raffaniello (Undeclared).

Lone candidate for Assembly District 4 is Maxwell Sumner, who was appointed to the seat in October, 2024 to fill the vacancy after Rob Yundt resigned after moving out of the district.

Candidates for Assembly must reside in the Borough and in the Assembly District for which they file for one year immediately prior to the election and meets the requirements of MSB 2.12.030 and 25.15.010.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board (MSBSD) also has three seats up for election in Districts 2, 5, and 7 all for three-year terms ending 2028.

In District 2, incumbent Kendal Kruse (Republican) is running against Gage Saxton (Nonpartisan)

In District 3, Brooks Pitcher (Republican) is running unopposed. He was appointed in December, 2023 when Jacob Butcher, who was elected to the board in 2022, resigned and moved to North Carolina. Nine people applied to fill it when Pitcher was elected and sworn into office.

Over in District 7, school board member Ted Swanson in not running for re-election, opening the spot up. Lorie Colee (Republican) is running against Dena McChargue (Undeclared).

MSBSD school board members have staggered three-year terms, ensuring that elections for the seven-member board do not all happen in the same year. The terms are staggered so that each year, only a portion of the board members are up for election.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough will hold regular elections for these spots on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

The list comes as campaigns in the three cities kicks into high gear. Wasilla has three seats up for election, two of which are unopposed.

Timothy Johnson is the sole candidate for Council Seat C, with a one-year term ending in October 2026.

Council Seat E is a three-year term ending in October 2028. Mark Schmidt currently holds the seat after he was appointed unanimously selected to fill Wasilla City Council Seat C, replacing Timothy Johnson, who resigned in March for family and health reasons. He is running against Sue-Sue “Sue2” Scott.

Alina Rubeo, who currently the seat, is running for re-election for Council Seat F. She has held the spot since 2022.

Meanwhile, the races in Palmer and Houston

Out in Houston, campaigning has kicked off for the three council spots open this year. Running for re-election in Seat E is David Childs, who also serves as Deputy Mayor. He will be running against Jason Kahn, a first-time candidate in Houston.

For Seat F, incumbent council member Sandy McDonald opted not to run for re-election. Ron Bass, owner of Houston Grass announced his candidacy earlier this month. He will face fellow business owner, Callie Courtney, who is running this year as a certified candidate. She ran as a write-in candidate last year, running against Laurie Faubert, who two more votes the Courtney. Though she had sought to challenge the outcome, Courtney conceded the race.

Faubert, who serves in Seat G, initially won a special election to the seat in July, 2024 after a previous council member resigned, then ran again last year for the one-year remaining in the term.

In Palmer, longtime councilmembers John Alcantra, and Jim Cooper, along with Josh Tudor, who is currently serving as Deputy Mayor, are among the candidates. Also running for mayor from the city council is Victoria Hudson, who is still in her first year of her freshman term as a city council member after being elected last October.

Cachet Garrett has also thrown her hat into the Mayor’s race. She most recently served as on the Alaska Board of Regents, appointed by Governor Mike Dunleavy.

For city council, there are two seats with a three-year term, expiring in 2028. There are three candidates vying for those seats, including incumbent Carolina Graver, along with local attorney Alison Collins and Amanda Graham, who recently served as the Public Information Officer for the Wasilla Police Department.

Two candidates are running for a one-year seat on the council. Sherry Carrington, wife of the current Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington, and Aundra "Omega" Jackson, who has run for council in the past. The term for this seat expires in 2026.

Unlike Wasilla and Houston, Palmer voters do not elect a candidate to a specific seat, but rather elect a certain number of candidates based on the number of open council slots.

Elections for Wasilla, Houston, and Palmer are scheduled to be held October 7, 2025. Voters can apply for absentee mail-in ballots on their respective city websites.

Early in-person voting in Houston begins September 22 through October 6, 2025, weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Residents can also vote on Saturdays within that time period, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Early voting in Houston begins Monday September 16 through September 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Houston City Hall.

In Palmer, early voting begins two weeks preceding Election Day and continues through 5 p.m. the day before Election Day. The early voting location is at Palmer City Hall.