Ketchikan election results: Bob Sivertsen to become next First City mayor

Voters in the City of Ketchikan have elected Bob Sivertsen as their new mayor. He won 591-322; the remaining votes to be counted are not enough for Janalee Gage to make up the difference.

Sivertsen is a graduate of Kayhi Class of 1968 and worked in public works for the City of Ketchikan before he retired. A Republican, he has served on many boards and commissions, and once ran for state House.

He will take over from current Mayor Dave Kiffer, who did not file for reelection, and he’ll inherit the herculean job of helping the city recover from a deadly landslide that occurred in August.

There is an exact tie as of this publication time in the Ketchikan City Council race, with Jai Mahtani and Dick Coose getting 381 votes apiece. The top two finishers in that race are the winners, which means the two both will probably retain their leads; the other candidate received less than 280 votes apiece.

In the Ketchikan Borough Assembly and School Board races, incumbent Bridget Mattson and Jamie Palmer will likely be the winners for the two seats, with Mattson gettin 1,029 votes and Palmer getting 1,191 other 1,000 vote each. Janalee Gage, who also ran unsuccessfully for Ketchikan City mayor, will not be able to make up the difference with the outstanding votes to be counted; she has 614 votes.

For School Board, there were three open seats, which appear to have been won by Ali Ginter (1,042), Keenan Sanderson (918), and Jordan Tabb (893). For a seat on the school board that was uncontested, Michelle O’Brien (1,296) was elected to the one-year term.

The election will be certified on Oct. 7, fully a week before Juneau’s mail-in election will be certified.