The 2021 Anchorage mayoral election was held on April 6, 2021, to elect the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. As no candidate received at least 45% of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the highest vote share,

Forrest Dunbar Forrest Dunbar (born 1984) is an American politician, attorney, and military officer. He is a member of the Alaska Senate, representing Anchorage District J since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the Anchorage As ...

and

Dave Bronson David Bronson (born June 26, 1958) is an American politician, pilot, and retired military officer who is the 9th and current mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska. Early life and education Bronson was born in Superior, Wisconsin. He ...

, advanced to a

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

on May 11. The election was officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

. Incumbent

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

acting mayor

Austin Quinn-Davidson Austin Quinn-Davidson (born October 29, 1979) is an American politician and attorney who served as the acting mayor of Anchorage, Alaska after the resignation of Ethan Berkowitz in October 2020 until the inauguration of Dave Bronson in July 2021. ...

, first appointed to the position in October 2020, was eligible to run for reelection to a full term, but did not run. The deadline to register to vote in the first round was March 7. Mail-in ballots were sent out starting on March 15. On May 21, 2021, after a narrow loss, Dunbar conceded the race to Bronson. Bronson was sworn in on July 1.

Background

Ethan Berkowitz Ethan Avram Berkowitz (born February 4, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26, serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 t ...

was elected mayor in

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and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and was ineligible to run for a third term. On October 13, 2020, he announced his resignation through his chief of staff Jason Bockenstadt at a meeting of the Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage's

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, to be effective October 23. The resignation came after a reporter made allegations that he was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with her. Felix Rivera, chair of the Anchorage Assembly, was next in the line of succession to the office. After a failed attempt immediately following the resignation announcement, the Assembly met in a special meeting on October 16 to reorganize itself, installing

as Assembly chair with Rivera as vice-chair. This move allowed Quinn-Davidson to succeed to the office of mayor and allowed Rivera to retain his position presiding over Assembly meetings. Quinn-Davidson is both the first female and first openly gay mayor of Anchorage. On November 4, the Assembly voted not to hold a special election for the position of mayor, meaning that the next election for the seat would be the regularly scheduled one in 2021.

General election

In the leadup to the general election, it was widely believed that there would be a runoff between Dunbar and one of the more conservative candidates.

Candidates

Major candidates

( Republican) - Former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot *

( Democratic) - Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2016–present), member of the Alaska Army National Guard *Bill Evans (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

) - Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2014–2017), board and two-time co-chair of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce *Bill Falsey (

) - Anchorage Municipal Manager (2017–2020) *George Martinez ( Democratic) - Educator, former special assistant to

for economic development *Mike Robbins ( Republican) - Businessman

Other registered candidates

*Anna Anthony *Jeffrey Brown,

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

worker *Darin Colbry ( Republican), candidate for

Governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

*Heather Herndon, real estate developer, construction, project manager, accountant, portfolio private placement financier. *Jacob Seth Kern ( Democratic), perennial candidate *Reza Momin *Albert Swank Jr., civil engineer *Jacob Versteeg, compliance examiner *Joe Westfall

Withdrawn

Eric Croft Eric Chancy Croft (born November 6, 1964) is an American attorney and politician who represented Anchorage's West district on the Anchorage Assembly from 2016 to 2019. From 1997 to 2006, Croft served as a member of the Alaska House of Representa ...

( Democratic), former

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

, former member of the Anchorage Assembly, former president of the Anchorage School Board, and candidate for

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

*Dustin Darden, maintenance worker and perennial candidate *Nelson Jesus Godoy, activist and candidate for mayor in

Declined

(

), incumbent acting mayor

Endorsements

Fundraising

Debates

Five candidates did not participate in either debate: Anna Anthony, Darin Colbry, Jacob Seth Kern, Reza Momin, and Jacob Versteeg.

Polling

Results

Runoff

In the leadup to the runoff, third-place primary finisher Falsey and sixth-place finisher Martinez endorsed Dunbar, while fifth-place finisher Robbins endorsed Bronson. Fourth-place finisher Evans did not make an endorsement.

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Notes

References

External links

;Official campaign websites
Dave Bronson (R) for Mayor

Forrest Dunbar (D) for MayorBill Evans (I) for Mayor

Bill Falsey (I) for Mayor

Heather Herndon for Mayor

George Martinez (D) for MayorMike Robbins (R) for Mayor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anchorage Mayoral Election, 2018 2021 United States mayoral elections 2021 Alaska elections

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