With all of the absentee and questioned ballots counted, Mike Navarre has emerged as the winner of the race for Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor, according to the borough’s unofficial results.
The KPB Canvass Board on Monday announced that it had worked through the weekend to review the remaining 1,832 absentee and questioned ballots. Navarre garnered 1,055 of the votes, or just over 57 percent of the total, challenger Tom Bearup got nearly 34 percent of the votes and the remaining 8 percent went to Carrol Martin.
After Tuesday’s election, Navarre emerged as the frontrunner 53 percent of the vote.
However, to avoid a run-off, Navarre needed a minimum of 629 of the remaining ballots to maintain a majority of the ballots cast.
To push Navarre’s percentage below the required majority, Bearup and Martin would have needed to capture 1,204 absentee votes.
Absentee voters also swayed the results of an advisory vote on an animal rescue program in the unincorporated parts of the borough.
Voters were asked if they’d like to see animal control in unincorporated parts of the borough and, additionally, if they’d like to see a raise in the mill rate to pay for the program.
Election day voters declined both, however when the absentee votes were tallied, the “yes” votes outnumbered the “no” votes by five, bringing the total to 50.04 percent yes and 49.96 percent no.
Voters still did not want to raise property taxes to pay for the service.
At least one more race has the potential to be swayed by the absentee votes.
In the Kenai City Council race, challenger Henry Knackstedt held a slim lead of 20 votes over incumbent Mike Boyle.
Kenai City Clerk Sandra Modigh said in a previous interview, that approximately 100 voters had submitted absentee ballots to Kenai City Hall — though there could be more given to the city from the borough absentee voting office.
The City of Kenai’s canvass board is not set to meet until Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The results of both elections will not be finalized until Tuesday.
