Kenai elects new mayor

The City of Kenai saw some turnover following Tuesday’s municipal election, with a new mayor and one new city council member. The second city council seat on the ballot is retained by incumbent Victoria Askin.

Soldotna also held a city council election, but both candidates were unopposed and thus reelected to their seats. The contentious vote lay with voters’ decision on whether to approve a ballot proposition that would enact annexation of nearly three square miles of land, originally proposed in a 2019 petition.

Kenai Mayor

Former Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel did not run for reelection this year. Mayoral candidates included Kenai’s vice mayor, Henry Knackstedt, and Kenai City Council member Alex Douthit.

According to preliminary election results, Knackstedt was elected Kenai’s new mayor on Tuesday with 461 votes. Douthit received 326, and there were five write-ins.

On Wednesday, Knackstedt thanked Douthit for the “clean, gentleman’s race that the voters observed.”

“I’d like to thank the City of Kenai voters for their confidence in me to be their next Kenai city mayor,” he said. “I will work hard with council and administration to move our city forward as we enter into an era of uncertainty with the gas line and state budget.”

Preliminary results do not include absentee or question ballots. The Kenai canvass board will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 14 to count absentee and question ballots, before the election results are certified on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Find the unofficial Kenai election results in full of the City of Kenai website at www.kenai.city/clerk/page/election-information.

Kenai City Council

Three candidates vied for two seats on the Kenai City council. The top two vote-getters are elected to the council in the Kenai race.

Incumbent Victoria Askin was reelected to her seat on the council with 445 votes, according to unofficial results. Bridget Grieme took the second seat with 402 votes. Glenese Pettey received 334 votes. The council race also saw 25 write-ins.

On Oct. 8, Askin wrote that she was “humbled and grateful” to Kenai residents for reelecting her to the council.

“We will be experiencing changes with a new mayor and council members. My goal is to do my best to represent the citizens of Kenai during the next three years,” she said.

Grieme, in a statement emailed Oct. 8, also thanked the community for their trust and said she was committed to working hard on Kenai’s behalf.

“There is a great deal for me to learn, and I look forward to listening, asking questions and engaging with both fellow council members, city staff and the public as I get up to speed,” she said. “I’m particularly interested in the results of the streetlight study and the upcoming citizen survey, as I believe both will provide valuable insights to guide our decisions moving forward. I’m eager to get started and contribute in a meaningful way.”

Soldotna City Council

Incumbents David Carey and Lisa Parker were both reelected to their seats for another three-year term each.

Carey remains on Seat D; Parker remains on Seat E. Both candidates were uncontested in the Soldotna council race.

Proposition 2025-A

Proposition 2025-A asked voters residing within the City of Soldotna, as well as those residing within the proposed annexation territories, whether the city should annex 2.63 square miles of land described in a petition filed in 2019 and approved by the Local Boundary Commission in 2020. According to the proposition summary, the annexation will only proceed if a majority of voters in both areas approve.

Voters inside city boundaries approved the proposition, with 225 voting “Yes” and 163 “No.” Outside city limits, in the annexation territories, only three voters were in favor and 25 voted against.

Find the unofficial results in full for the Soldotna election on the City Clerk webpage at www.soldotna.org, then Elections, then Regular Election Results in the left-hand sidebar.

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This story was updated on Monday, Oct. 13 to include comments from the two elected Kenai City Council members.