Bronson Takes The Lead In Mayor's Race by 416 Votes. But There Will Be A Runoff

 The top two mayoral candidates were the only ones to change rank in today's numbers for the Election Office.  There are still mail-in ballots to arrive.  All the other races/issues are here.

Mayor Race	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	----------	--------	------
EVANS, Bill	999    (4)	3,871  (4)	4,782 (4)	5,505 (4)
SWANK, Albert L., Jr	36  (9)	139 (10)	157 (10)	173  (10)
MARTINEZ, George	321 (6)	1,272  (6)	1,658 (6)	1,928  (6)
MOMIN, Reza	12  (11)	35  (13)	39 (13)	40  (13)
FALSEY, Bill	1,281 (3)	5,312  (3)	6,703  (3)	7,614  (3)
HERNDON, Heather	91   (7)	303    (7)	337  (7)	366  (7)
ANTHONY, Anna	63  (8)	190   (8)	233  (8)	237  (8)
BRONSON, David	3,116  (2)	12,986  (2)	15,953 (2)	18,716  (1)
BROWN, Jeffrey	33  (10)	147   (9)	196  (9)	229  (9)
VERSTEEG, Jacob	11  (12)	31  (14)	35  (14)	36  (14)
ROBBINS, Mike	745   (5)	3,097   (5)	3,766 (5)	4,324  (5)
DUNBAR, Forrest	3,701 (1)	13,711 (1)	16,458 (1)	18,300 (2)
COLBRY, Darin	8  (14)	18  (15)	21 (15)	25 (15)
WESTFALL, Joe	12 (11)	48  (11)	61  (11)	67  (11)
KERN, Jacob Seth	9  (13)	38   (12)	41 (12)	43  (12)
Total	10,438	41,198	50,430	57,603

Clearly, there was a large chunk of more conservative voters in this last batch of about 7,000 new ballots.  Not only did Bronson take a slight lead in the Mayor's race, but the School District races tightened up too.  The progressive candidates are still in the lead, but by smaller margins.  

The mayor has to get 45% to win.  So it's pretty clear there will be a runoff.  But Falsey and Martinez voters are likely to go strongly for Dunbar in a runoff and I would imagine a reasonable share of Bill Evans' votes will too.  Robbins' votes will lean to Bronson I would imagine.

This election is one that would be decided clearly in one election if the State's new ranked-choice voting applied to Anchorage.  

Recall Vote

	Total
Times Cast	9,508 / 42,059	22.61%

Candidate	Party	Total
YES		3,844	42.30%
NO		5,243	57.70%
Total Votes		9,087

I think this issue was less affected by the clump of conservative votes we got tonight because only residents of Assembly District 4 could vote on this.  

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT B (1-YEAR TERM) (Vote for 1)

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	58,446 / 236,619	24.70%

Candidate	Party	Total
ELEDGE, Judy Norton		19,513	38.20%
STEWART, Marilyn		5,852	11.45%
COX, Mark Anthony		5,684	11.13%
LESSENS, Kelly		20,038	39.22%
Total Votes		51,087

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		417

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT E (Vote for 1)

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	58,446 / 236,619	24.70%

Candidate	Party	Total
HIGGINS, Pat		17,043	33.53%
HILDE, Alisha		6,557	12.90%
BLATCHFORD, Edgar		4,037	7.94%
BLAKESLEE, Rachel		4,966	9.77%
GRAHAM, Sami		16,254	31.98%
WILLIAMS, Nial Sherwood		1,967	3.87%
Total Votes		50,824

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		432

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT F (Vote for 1)

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	58,446 / 236,619	24.70%

Candidate	Party	Total
SANDERS, Marcus		7,975	15.95%
PAULSON, Kim		16,715	33.42%
LORING, Dan		2,595	5.19%
WILSON, Dora		22,726	45.44%
Total Votes		50,011

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		476

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT G (Vote for 1)

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	58,446 / 236,619	24.70%

Candidate	Party	Total
VAKALIS, Elisa		23,724	48.63%
JACOBS, Carl		25,056	51.37%
Total Votes		48,780

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		849

Almost No Changes In Rank In Anchorage Mayor Race From Tuesday to Thursday

Here are the results from Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night in the Anchorage Mayor's race.  There is almost no change in the rankings from night to night.  From Tuesday to Wednesday a couple of people traded ranks.  The biggest shift is due to a tie for 11th place on the first night.  There were NO changes in rank for the top eight candidates from night to night.

From Wednesday to Thursday there are no changes in rank.  

I'm guessing that, at least in part, this is due to mail in voting.  Instead of votes coming in from different precincts which often are more politically homogenous, they came in from all over.  

Mayor Race	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	-----------	----------	--------	------
EVANS, Bill	999    (4)	3,871  (4)	4,782 (4)
SWANK, Albert L., Jr	36  (9)	139 (10)	157 (10)
MARTINEZ, George	321 (6)	1,272  (6)	1,658 (6)
MOMIN, Reza	12  (11)	35  (13)	39 (13)
FALSEY, Bill	1,281 (3)	5,312  (3)	6,703  (3)
HERNDON, Heather	91   (7)	303    (7)	337  (7)
ANTHONY, Anna	63  (8)	190   (8)	233  (8)
BRONSON, David	3,116  (2)	12,986  (2)	15,953 (2)
BROWN, Jeffrey	33  (10)	147   (9)	196  (9)
VERSTEEG, Jacob	11  (12)	31  (14)	35  (14)
ROBBINS, Mike	745   (5)	3,097   (5)	3,766 (5)
DUNBAR, Forrest	3,701 (1)	13,711 (1)	16,458 (1)
COLBRY, Darin	8  (14)	18  (15)	21 (15)
WESTFALL, Joe	12 (11)	48  (11)	61  (11)
KERN, Jacob Seth	9  (13)	38   (12)	41 (12)
Total	10,438	41,198	50,430

Looking at the numbers  makes me wonder about the standards for getting on the ballot.  I think we wasted a time at candidate forums by having candidates who couldn't even get 100 votes out of 50,000.  While I do think candidates without a chance of winning can add different points of view to the debate, having too many candidates at a forum means the public gets to question the main candidates less.  

I wanted to do the same thing for the other races, but I needed to think this through better technically before I started.  But I'll leave Wednesday night totals for the recall and school board races below.  I don't think there are any changes in rank, but some races tightened, others widened. 

You can get to the totals for each night on the Municipal Election Page.

Candidate	Party	Total
YES		3,417	42.34%
NO		4,653	57.66%
Total Votes		8,070

Candidate	Party	Total
ELEDGE, Judy Norton		16,697	37.28%
STEWART, Marilyn		5,240	11.70%
COX, Mark Anthony		5,051	11.28%
LESSENS, Kelly		17,801	39.74%
Total Votes		44,789

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		371

Candidate	Party	Total
HIGGINS, Pat		15,188	34.06%
HILDE, Alisha		5,780	12.96%
BLATCHFORD, Edgar		3,624	8.13%
BLAKESLEE, Rachel		4,426	9.92%
GRAHAM, Sami		13,905	31.18%
WILLIAMS, Nial Sherwood		1,673	3.75%
Total Votes		44,596

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		383

Candidate	Party	Total
SANDERS, Marcus		6,988	15.92%
PAULSON, Kim		14,321	32.64%
LORING, Dan		2,374	5.41%
WILSON, Dora		20,199	46.03%
Total Votes		43,882

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		423

Candidate	Party	Total
VAKALIS, Elisa		20,641	48.20%
JACOBS, Carl		22,186	51.80%
Total Votes		42,827

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		737

Yesterday's Early Election Results Appear Unchanged In New Report Today

 Going through the latest report which just got posted, it appears those leading last night are still leading now.

Mayoral Race:  Bronson (12,986) is still trailing Dunbar (13,711).

Recall:  The NO vote (3,821) has increased its lead over the YES vote (3,821).

School Board Seat B:  Kelly Lessens (14,494) is still ahead of Judy Norton Eledge (13,588)

School Board Seat E:  Pat Higgins (12,549) is still ahead of Sami Graham (11,326)

School Board Seat F:  Dora Wilson (16,491) has increased her lead over Kim Paulson (11,790)

School Board Seat G:  Carl Jacobs (18,161) is still leading Elisa Vakalis (16,914)

You can see all the details at the Municipal Election Page as well as results on neighborhood elections bond issues.

You can see yesterday's results in my post last night and compare how much change there has been in the standings. 

Early Results Of Anchorage Election - We'll See later How Many In The Lead Now End Up There [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: Wednesday April 7, 2021 8:30am: I have only been able to get the original early results marked as 8:42pm. I tired various times last night and again this morning.  No changes.  I just talked to Brandy (Brandi?) at the Municipal Clerk's office.  She told me those are the only results so far.  They are working on them and probably will have an update tonight. (In the past there were regular updates as the ballots came in.  That didn't happen this time.)  Brandy also told me that if you want to be alerted when the numbers are updated, you can text "Start" to 907 312 1012.]

 Early Anchorage election results from the Municipal Election page:

Mayor:

EVANS, Bill		999
SWANK, Albert L., Jr.		36
MARTINEZ, George		321
MOMIN, Reza		12
FALSEY, Bill		1,281
HERNDON, Heather		91
ANTHONY, Anna		63
BRONSON, David		3,116
BROWN, Jeffrey		33
VERSTEEG, Jacob		11
ROBBINS, Mike		745
DUNBAR, Forrest		3,701
COLBRY, Darin		8
WESTFALL, Joe		12
KERN, Jacob Seth		9
Total Votes		10,438

Rivera Recall

Candidate	Party	Total
YES		638
NO		939
Total Votes		1,577

School Board B

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT B (1-YEAR TERM) (Vote for 1)

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	10,606 / 236,619	4.48%

Candidate	Party	Total
ELEDGE, Judy Norton		3,376
STEWART, Marilyn		1,173
COX, Mark Anthony		1,081
LESSENS, Kelly		3,699
Total Votes		9,329

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		80

School Board E

Times Cast

10,606 / 236,619

4.48%

Candidate	Party	Total
HIGGINS, Pat		3,264
HILDE, Alisha		1,264
BLATCHFORD, Edgar		830
BLAKESLEE, Rachel		906
GRAHAM, Sami		2,692
WILLIAMS, Nial Sherwood		360
Total Votes		9,316

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		79

School Board F

Precincts Reported: 0 of 123 (0.00%)

	Total
Times Cast	10,606 / 236,619	4.48%

Candidate	Party	Total
SANDERS, Marcus		1,463
PAULSON, Kim		2,888
LORING, Dan		539
WILSON, Dora		4,260
Total Votes		9,150

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		85

School Board G

	Total
Times Cast	10,606 / 236,619	4.48%

Candidate	Party	Total
VAKALIS, Elisa		4,166
JACOBS, Carl		4,726
Total Votes		8,892

		Total
Unresolved Write-In		174

You can check here till all the ballots are in.

Alaska Airlines Safety Dance Goes OneWorld

 When I was relatively new to Alaska, I went to a public administration meeting downtown during the annual Fur Rendezvous.  Walking from my car I passed the ice sculptures which included a large structure with a slide.  I couldn't resist.  I went up the ice steps and slid down the slide.  And went on to the meeting.

Sometime later, one of my graduate students, a women older than I, told me that she had seen me go down the ice slide and that was the moment that she knew I was okay.  

Later I read an article about how Japanese CEOs participate in all day company retreats and join in some activities in which they aren't particularly skilled - maybe karaoke or basketball - and that showing their clumsier selves in front of all their employees is a way to humanize them and connect them with the people they work with.  

Those were my thoughts as I watched Alaska Airlines' video welcoming them to OneWorld - an alliance of, now 14, airlines around the world.  I understand the importance of OneWorld membership because when we went to Argentina a couple of years ago, LATAM airlines told me "if you are a OneWorld member" you can get much better prices and services.  

The video starts with Alaska Airlines' president and then he gets welcomed by the heads of the various airlines in the group.  Then at the end they do the Alaska Airlines safety dance, an adaptation of the Virgin Airlines safety video Alaska acquired when they bought Virgin Airlines.  (The Virgin one is worth looking at - an example of how imagination can take a boring safety announcement and make it riveting.)

So below is the second part of Alaska's new OneWorld welcome video - the part that involves a variation on the safety dance, including the CEOs of the various member airlines.  [I'll have to wait until it's actually posted to be sure it starts at the dance.  If not, the dance starts at about 3:16]

Sure, it's a PR video, but with a spirit that takes off the corporate suits and gets seriously playful