Today is election filing deadline

WASILLA — By Thursday afternoon, three candidates had filed to run for Mat-Su Borough mayor. Candidates have until July 31 to file to enter the Oct. 5 election.

Houston and Wasilla have joined Palmer and the Mat-Su Borough on the list of communities where voters will again consider the question of banning marijuana locally.

If supporters collect the needed signatures, voters in the borough, Houston, Palmer and Wasilla could all see the question on the ballot within the next year.

The Palmer City Council elected not to take up the initiative on their own at a Tuesday meeting, clearing the way for voters to decide on a measure outlawing several types of marijuana businesses, while allowing personal use and consumption.

A similar measure for the Mat-Su Borough was still out collecting signatures, according to borough clerk Lonnie McKechnie. If supporters collected enough signatures by Aug. 4, the borough ban could appear on the Oct. 5 election ballot. Statutorily, supporters had until September, but that would be too late to be placed on the ballot, McKechnie said.

The measure in Wasilla was still under legal review, and its certification in time for the October election appears uncertain. In Houston, prospects for approval in time for the October election appeared slim, said Clerk Sonya Dukes.

“I literally didn’t promise them anything,” she said.

In the contest for borough mayor, incumbent and Palmer farmer Larry DeVilbiss will face two challengers: termed-out assemblyman and Willow dog musher Vern Halter; and retired Anchorage Times reporter and long-time Valley resident Rosemary Vavrin. Halter and DeVilbiss have tangled previously over a fire service area tax rate in Willow. Vavrin is a fixture among community meetings and events in Wasilla .

Assembly District 3, occupied by incumbent Ron Arvin, has drawn two challengers: George McKee, of Wasilla, and Maria Serrano, McKechnie said. Arvin did not yet appear on the ballot, though potential candidates have until 5 p.m., today to file with most municipal clerks (the Palmer clerk’s office had until 4 p.m.).

In District 6, Assemblywoman and Wasilla physician Barb Doty will face challenger Bob Doyle.

Two candidates on opposite sides of the contentious Fire Service Area tax rate increase are running for District 7, Halter’s present seat. Contenders are former assemblyman and fire service area supervisor and hardware store owner Doyle Holmes, and Randall Kowalke, a long-time manager in the telecom industry.

Three borough school board seats had drawn only incumbents: clerk Sarah Welton had filed for seat B; Debby Retherford had filed for seat A; and Kelsey Trimmer had filed for seat E.

At the city level, incumbents had primarily filed for office.

In Wasilla, incumbents David Wilson and deputy mayor Anthony Clark Buswell were the only two candidates who had filed so far, though clerk Kristie Smithers said a few additional packets were out.

Voters there also will face a vote on whether or not to retain a temporary 1 percent sales increase past its previously scheduled end date.

In Palmer, incumbents Richard Best and Ken Erbey were up for election, though so far only Erbey had filed to run.

In Houston, incumbents Alma Hartley and Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson also had filed to run.

Houston voters also will decide whether to raise the city sales tax there an additional 1 percent, Dukes said.

Officials with the local boundary commission have been uncertain whether a Big Lake incorporation vote also would go on the ballot for the election. The Division of Elections has not yet announced a date for that vote Thursday evening.

After today’s filing deadline, candidates face an Aug. 7 deadline to potentially withdraw from the election. The last day for voters to register is Sept. 6.

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