# 2021 Anchorage mayoral election

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The 2021 Anchorage mayoral election was held on April 6, 2021, to elect the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska. As no candidate received at least 45% of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the highest vote share, Forrest Dunbar and Dave Bronson, advanced to a runoff on May 11. The election was officially nonpartisan. Incumbent independent acting mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, 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 was elected mayor in 2015 and 2018 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, 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 Austin Quinn-Davidson 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

* Dave Bronson (Republican), former U.S. Air Force and commercial pilot
* Forrest Dunbar (Democratic), Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2016–present), member of the Alaska Army National Guard
* Bill Evans (Independent), Member of the Anchorage Assembly (2014–2017), board and two-time co-chair of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce
* Bill Falsey (Independent), Anchorage Municipal Manager (2017–2020)
* George Martinez (Democratic), educator, former special assistant to Ethan Berkowitz for economic development
* Mike Robbins (Republican), businessman

#### Other registered candidates

* Anna Anthony
* Jeffrey Brown, social services worker
* Darin Colbry (Republican), candidate for Governor of Alaska in 2018
* 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 (Democratic), former state representative, former member of the Anchorage Assembly, former president of the Anchorage School Board, and candidate for governor of Alaska in 2006
* Dustin Darden, maintenance worker and perennial candidate
* Nelson Jesus Godoy, activist and candidate for mayor in 2018

#### Declined

* Austin Quinn-Davidson (Independent), incumbent acting mayor

### Endorsements

* Jamie Allard, current Anchorage Assemblyman
* Rick Mystrom, former mayor (also endorsed Martinez and Robbins)
* Dan Sullivan, current United States Senator from Alaska
State officials
* Johnny Ellis, former Majority Leader of the Alaska Senate
Organizations
* AFL–CIO
* AFSCME Local 52
* Anchorage Democratic Party
* Anchorage Education Association
* Anchorage Firefighters Union
* Ironworkers Union Local 751
* IBEW Local 1547
* International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302
* Laborers' Union, Alaska District
* Planned Parenthood (also endorsed Martinez)
* Teamsters Local 959
* Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 367
* Chuck Kopp, former state representative (Republican)
* Dan Sullivan, former mayor, nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Alaska in 2014, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016 (Republican) (no relation to U.S. Senator from Alaska Dan Sullivan)
People
* Rick Mystrom, former mayor (Republican) (also endorsed Bronson and Robbins)
Organizations
* Planned Parenthood (also endorsed Dunbar)
* Rick Mystrom, former mayor (also endorsed Bronson and Martinez)

### Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of February 18, 2021 :
| Candidate (party, if known) | Total raised |
| Anna Anthony | did not file |
| Dave Bronson (R) | $162,482 |
| Jeffrey Brown | did not file |
| Darin Colbry (R) | $0 |
| Forrest Dunbar (D) | $252,216 |
| Bill Evans (I) | $98,480 |
| Bill Falsey (I) | $106,285 |
| Heather Herndon | $0 |
| Jacob Seth Kern (D) | did not file |
| George Martinez (D) | $60,086 |
| Reza Momin | did not file |
| Mike Robbins (R) | $210,058 |
| Albert Swank Jr. | $0 |
| Jacob Versteeg | did not file |
| Joe Westfall | did not file |

### Debates

Five candidates did not participate in either debate: Anna Anthony, Darin Colbry, Jacob Seth Kern, Reza Momin, and Jacob Versteeg.
2021 Anchorage mayoral election debates :
| No. | Date & time | Host | Moderator | Link | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | | | | | | | | | | |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Non-invitee  I Invitee | Dave Bronson | Jeffrey Brown | Forrest Dunbar | Bill Evans | Bill Falsey | Heather Herndon | George Martinez | Mike Robbins | Albert Swank Jr. | Joe Westfall |
| 1 | February 16, 2021 | Anchorage Daily News | Tom Hewitt | Video | P | N | P | P | P | N | P | P | N | N |
| 2 | March 18, 2021 | West Anchorage Community Councils | Unknown | Not recorded | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dave Bronson | Forrest Dunbar | Bill Falsey | Mike Robbins | Other | Undecided |
| Independent pollster at APOC | Released March 8, 2021 | – (V) | – | 20% | 22% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 33% |

### Results

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 24,567 | 32.96 |
| | Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 23,054 | 30.93 |
| | Nonpartisan | Bill Falsey | 9,551 | 12.82 |
| | Nonpartisan | Bill Evans | 7,073 | 9.49 |
| | Nonpartisan | Mike Robbins | 5,766 | 7.74 |
| | Nonpartisan | George Martinez | 2,753 | 3.69 |
| | Nonpartisan | Heather Herndon | 451 | 0.61 |
| | Nonpartisan | Jeffrey Brown | 307 | 0.41 |
| | Nonpartisan | Anna Anthony | 306 | 0.41 |
| | Nonpartisan | Albert Swank Jr. | 231 | 0.31 |
| | Nonpartisan | Joe Westfall | 83 | 0.11 |
| | Nonpartisan | Jacob Seth Kern | 52 | 0.07 |
| | Nonpartisan | Reza Momin | 52 | 0.07 |
| | Nonpartisan | Jacob Versteeg | 43 | 0.06 |
| | Nonpartisan | Darin Colbry | 31 | 0.04 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 205 | 0.28 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 74,525 | 100.00 |

## 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.

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Dave Bronson | Forrest Dunbar | Undecided |
| Alaska Survey Research | April 9–12, 2021 | 322 (LV) | ± 5.5% | 44% | 45% | 11% |

### Results

Runoff results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Dave Bronson | 45,937 | 50.66 |
| | Nonpartisan | Forrest Dunbar | 44,744 | 49.34 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 90,681 | 100.00 |