Woods retains District 1 assembly seat; Houston wins in District 2

MAT-SU — Incumbent District 1 Mat-Su Borough Assemblymember Lynne Woods has retained her seat and Peter L. Houston of Palmer has won the District 2 Borough Assembly election, according to unofficial election results.

Woods, of Sutton, led challenger Bruce Walden of Palmer 1,060 to 726 votes.

“I’m very happy about the results,” she said. “I worked hard to represent my district.”

Houstom ran against John F. Leiner of Palmer.

“Now is when the fun begins,” said Houston shortly after leaving the Borough’s elections offices.

One of his top worries had been Borough Prop. 1, a land use initiative is being defeated. Among his remaining agenda items is economic diversification of the Borough’s economy.

During his campaign he said he backed “responsible, thoughtful development” and wants to “be sure people can afford their property taxes.”

Houston won by more than 178 votes, according to the unofficial results, 720 to 542. Neither Houston nor Leiner were incumbents. They were running to fill the District 2 seat vacated by Bill Allen, who resigned to accept a job as Palmer city manager.

Overall, more than 20 percent of the Borough’s 52,652 registered voters participated in Tuesday’s election with another 1,259 absentee ballots to be counted.

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses@frontiersman.com or call him at 352-2270.