Valley voters to decide borough’s highest elected position

PALMER — If you’re reading this and you haven’t voted already, you have until 8 p.m. tonight.

The only race on the ballot anywhere in the Valley is a special election to replace the borough mayor. Eight names will be on that ballot, though one of them dropped out after the deadline to do so and not appear on the ballot.

“They’re not doing anything else,” Borough Clerk Lonnie McKechnie said of the three cities in the Mat-Su.

Polling places open up at 7 a.m. If you are unsure where to vote, check out the elections page at matsugov.us/clerk. Polling places are generally in public buildings like schools, senior centers and municipal government buildings. McKechnie said there are 34 of them.

McKechnie said that, generally, turnout in special elections is lower than for general elections. As of Monday afternoon, early voting was bearing that trend out. A total of 427 ballots had been cast in person and 180 by mail.

Those numbers could go up as absentee voting in person will still be going on tomorrow at the main borough building and the totals didn’t include all of Monday’s votes. Still, it seems highly unlikely that the number will come anywhere close to the 1,571 absentee votes cast in last year’s regular election.

Here’s a rundown of the candidates in reverse alphabetical order:

• David Wilson is a health care administrator making his first run for public office in the Valley. He’s big on public safety and wants to create more jobs in the Valley.

• Bruce Walden is the candidate whose name will be on the ballot despite having dropped out of the race and thrown his support behind Larry DeVilbiss.

• Jeff Ward is a college student who said he wants to make the Valley the best place to raise a family. He sees job creation as a way to do away with the need for any further sales or property taxes.

• Brian Sullivan is a military veteran, an attorney and a former member of the Mat-Su Borough School Board. Along with DeVilbiss he is one of two candidates with a major advertising presence and is widely considered to be a frontrunner. He hopes to fully fund schools and create more recreation opportunities if elected.

• John Leiner is a farmer, local gadfly and regular attendee of borough assembly meetings. He said he intends to watch the borough budget like a hawk, but understands exactly how limited the role of a weak mayor is. The mayor doesn’t vote except to break ties and leaves day-to-day operations to a professional manager.

• Kurt Jarmer is a former first responder who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the borough over complaints he had too much junk in his yard. He works with local senior citizens and volunteers each year at the Christmas Friendship Dinner.

• Larry DeVilbiss is a farmer, a member of the Matanuska Electric Association’s board of directors — a seat he intends to retain if elected — and a veteran of both the borough assembly and school board. He said he intends to whittle down excessive regulation and hopes to create more jobs.

• Ken Clark is a former telecommunications worker making his first run at local office. He said he hopes to inject some new blood into Valley politics.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.