Eight people are vying to represent Sterling and Funny River on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. Among the candidates are a Soldotna High School teacher, a small business owner and the chairman of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Royalty Board.
Assembly members will consider applications from Marty Anderson, Jill Craig, Dale Eichner, Paul Marks, Leslie Morton, Ed Oberts, Greg Olcott and Craig Schwartz for the seat.
The candidates will have an opportunity to pitch themselves to assembly members during a special committee meeting on Tuesday. The assembly will appoint a candidate at its regular meeting later that evening.
Whoever is appointed to the assembly’s District 5 seat will replace Bill Elam, who was elected to the Alaska Legislature last year. The assembly appointee will serve until the next borough election in October. That’s when the district’s voters will elect someone to finish out the rest of Elam’s term, which is up in 2026.