Last Wednesday was the deadline for candidates to file in municipal Kenai Peninsula elections. On the central peninsula, seats are open on the borough assembly, school board, and in Kenai and Soldotna city governments for the Oct. 3 elections.
On the borough assembly, four seats are open. For the seat representing Kenai, current assembly member Richard Derkevorkian is not seeking reelection. Ryan Tunseth, current president of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, is the only candidate filed for the seat.
In Sterling, current assembly member Bill Elam is running for reelection against Nissa Savage, an accountant. For the Homer seat, two candidates have filed: former assembly member Kelly Cooper, and former Homer City Council member Heath Smith.
The Nikiski assembly seat is also up for election, after Peter Ribbens was appointed to the position in January following Jesse Bjorkman’s election to the state senate. Ribbens is now running for a full term against Adam Bertoldo, an Airforce veteran and paramedic.
Incumbent Peter Micciche is running unopposed for borough mayor. Micciche won the seat in a February special election, following the resignation of Charlie Pierce, who was asked to step down after a sexual harassment lawsuit. Micciche had enough of a lead in the four-person special race that a runoff was not required.
There are two seats open on the Kenai City Council: incumbents Teea Winger and Henry Knackstedt are running again, along with Glenese Petty and Phillip Daniel. In Soldotna, Mayor Paul Whitney is running unopposed to keep his role, and Chera Wackler is running unopposed for her council seat. In seat D, Dan Nelson is running for reelection against Garret Dominick.
On the Board of Education, Penny Vadla is running unopposed to keep her Soldotna seat, while incumbent Jason Tauriainen is running against Lyndsey Bertoldo for the Nikiski seat. Debbie Cary is running to keep her seat for the Central district against Dianne MacCrae, and Beverly Romanin is running to keep her Sterling seat against Kelley Cizek.
In the coming weeks, KDLL and The Peninsula Clarion will host a series of joint candidate forums for all local races. The forums will kick off Monday, Sept. 4 with the Soldotna City Council, followed by the Kenai City Council Forum on Thursday, Sept. 7. You can attend forums live and in person at 6 p.m., or hear them on KDLL on Wednesdays and Saturdays. You can find the full list of forum dates and locations here.
