By Friday afternoon, city election workers had counted all of the outstanding question and absentee ballots cast in this year’s municipal election. The 1,872 additional ballots didn’t change the outcome of any of the Assembly or School Board races.
Incumbent Assembly member Mary Becker has unofficially held her district one seat, claiming 4,060 votes. Challengers Arnold Liebelt and William Quayle Jr. won 3,472 votes and 292 votes, respectively.
“I’m happy,” Becker told the Empire after the election workers finished counting the last remaining ballots in Assembly Chambers Friday afternoon. “This is what I like to do.”
Norton Gregory unseated incumbent Assembly member Kate Troll, winning 4,104 votes. Troll won 3,837. Gregory, who watched the ballot counting with Becker, said that he’s got to cancel some of his travel plans now that all of the ballots are in and he’s fairly certain he’ll be attending Assembly meetings instead.
“It’s been a pretty exciting day,” he said after the votes had been tallied. “Now it’s all starting to sink in.”
Newcomer Beth Weldon won the district 2 Assembly seat for which she ran unopposed. She secured 6,319 votes in the uncontested race.
Dan DeBartolo and Steve Whitney won 3,661 and 3,304 votes respectively, which was enough for them to win the two open seats on the Juneau School Board. Kevin Allen won 2,161 votes, and Jason Hart won 2,433.
Question and absentee ballots now included, the turnout for this year’s city election was 33.3 percent, which matches the turnout during the special mayoral election that took place in March. Of Juneau’s 25,100 registered voters, 8,369 cast ballots.
These results are unofficial until the city’s Canvas Board meets on Tuesday to certify the results.
The new Assembly members will be sworn in at the Oct. 17 regular Assembly meeting.
• Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.
