Tuesday evening is the deadline for people looking to run for local office to file their declaration of candidacy with clerk offices ahead of the Oct. 3 municipal election. Seats are open on the Soldotna, Kenai and Homer city councils, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and various service area boards.
Incumbent Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche is the only person who has filed to run for election to the borough’s highest office. Micciche in February was elected to the position during a special election held after the resignation of former Mayor Charlie Pierce.
In Soldotna the city’s mayor and city council tickets have received one application each, all from incumbents. Incumbent Mayor Paul Whitney, first elected mayor in 2020, has filed for reelection. Council member Dan Nelson is seeking reelection to City Council Seat B and Chera Wackler, who was appointed to the council in January, is running for a full term for Seat F.
In Kenai, Henry Knackstedt and Glenese Pettey have filed to run for the two open seats on the city council. Knackstedt is an incumbent candidate who has sat on the council since 2014. Pettey served on the council from 2016 to 2022.
In Homer, two city council seats are up for grabs. Incumbents Rachel Lord and Caroline Venuti have both filed to run, as has longtime Homer resident Joni Wise.
As of Thursday at 2:15 p.m., no candidates had filed to run for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly’s District 2 – Kenai seat, District 5 – Sterling seat, or for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education’s District 4 – Soldotna seat. Those seats are currently held by Richard Derkevorkian, Bill Elam and Penny Vadla, respectively.
For seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education, five candidates have thrown their hats in the ring. No candidates have yet filed for the school board’s District 4 – Soldotna seat, which is currently held by Penny Vadla.
For the school board’s District 3 – Nikiski seat, incumbent Jason Tauriainen and Lyndsey Bertoldo have both filed to run.
Incumbent board member Debbie Cary, who also serves as board president, has filed to run for the board’s District 7 – Central seat, as has Kasilof resident Dianne MacCrae. Beverley
Romanin, who was appointed to the board last fall, has filed to finish out a one-year term to the board’s District 5 – Sterling seat.
On the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, four candidates have filed to run for two of the assembly’s four open seats.
Incumbent Peter Ribbens, who was appointed by assembly members in January, has filed to finish out a two-year term for the District 3- Nikiski seat. Nikiski resident Adam Bertoldo has also filed to run for that seat.
For the District 8 – Homer assembly seat, currently held by Lane Chesley, Kelly Cooper and Heath Smith have filed to run. Cooper is a former assembly member and president who ran for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives in 2020. Smith is a former Homer City Council member who challenged Sen. Gary Stevens for a seat in the Alaska Senate last fall.
The candidate filing period of the Oct. 3 municipal election closes on Aug. 15 at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 3 is the deadline to register to vote in that election, and absentee in person voting starts on Sept. 18.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
