With nearly 12,000 votes counted, the city’s municipal election results are much clearer, although not yet official.
A round of preliminary results released by the city Friday afternoon show Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs winning reelection to her District 1 seat City and Borough of Juneau Assembly seat and Christine Woll winning the race for an open District 2 seat. Both seats have three-year terms.
Those are the same results indicated by earlier unofficial counts released by the city, but with more than a thousand additional votes tallied, the count is likely close to what the official results will ultimately show. A Canvas Review Board will start work at 10 a.m. on Tuesday to certify the results.
Assembly member Maria Gladziszewski ran unopposed for an areawide seat, and Juneau School District Board of Education member Brian Holst and Martin Stepetin Sr. ran in a noncompetitive race for two open school board seats. All of those seats have three-year terms.
[Juneau district court set to reopen in November]
Woll paced a four-way race for a District 2 seat that is being vacated by Assembly member Rob Edwardson. She received 5,116 votes, according to the unofficial results. Woll ran against Derek Dzinich, Robert Shoemake and Lacey Derr.
“I’m feeling great, felt great before knowing the results because we ran a great campaign,” Woll previously told the Empire. Woll did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Shoemake came in second with 3,034 votes.
“I think it’s pretty cool we hit 3,000 people,” Shoemake said.
He said that is about the number of votes he anticipated receiving based on how many homes his business, Budget Appliance Repair, has brought him into.
In some Assembly races, such as 2018’s race for two District 2 seats, Shoemake’s vote total would have been enough to win a seat.
Shoemake declined to definitively say whether he might run for office again, but it’s something he wouldn’t rule out.
In the District 1 race, Hughes-Skandijs received 6,350 votes to Kenny Solomon-Gross’ 5,044. Solomon-Gross did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
“I’m feeling pretty excited to see the latest results just now,” Hughes-Skandijs said in a phone interview. “Feeling pretty thankful to the voters and supporters and volunteers.”
Hughes-Skandijs said she was impressed by the elections robust voter turnout, which unofficial results put at 42.6%. It’s the first time in 20 years turnout in a municipal election has topped 40%, according to city data.
She said she’s glad to have secured a three-year term. Hughes-Skandijs was first appointed to the Assembly in early 2019 and won a one-year term on the Assembly that October. This election was her second time on a ballot since her appountment.
“This will be my first three-year term, which will be funny,” Hughes-Skandijs said. “I’m really excited to have what most people normally have, which is three years to do the work.”
Giving them props
Voters rejected one ballot proposition, but OK’d another one, according to unofficial results. A $15 million bond package that is meant to generate funds for city projects, including school roof repairs, passed 6,912-4,664, according to unofficial results.
A proposition that would have established a charter commission was rejected 7,424-3,957, according to unofficial results. The proposition, which is required by City and Borough of Juneau’s charter to appear on ballots every 10 years, has failed every time it has appeared on ballots.
• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt
