FAIRBANKS CONSERVATIVES WIN SEVERAL KEY RACES
Mayor Jim Matherly has won reelection as mayor of the City of Fairbanks , even after he was outspent by Kathryn Dodge, the Democrat who had a huge cash advantage going into Tuesday’s election.
[Read: Will Matherly fend off Kathryn Dodge?]
With 100 percent of precincts counted, Matherly won 1,720 to Dodge’s 1,516. Lakesha Jordan peeled off 138 votes from the Dodge’s Left, and Frank Turney was able to find 75 voters to support him.
The race was watched across the state because the LGBTQ+ voters rallied around Dodge, as did major public employee unions and Democrats in general. Even Planned Parenthood got in the game and published flyers supporting Dodge.
Why? Matherly had vetoed a controversial “equal rights ordinance” that had been adopted by the city council, which had created protections for certain people in employment, housing and public accommodations such as cross-gender bathroom usage. Matherly had said the measure needed to be voted on by the people of Fairbanks. The LGBTQ community was up in arms.
Dodge is well-known in Fairbanks politics, having served on the Borough Assembly for two terms, and also having lost the District 1 House seat to Rep. Bart LeBon by just one vote in the 2018 election. She raised over $52,000 to Matherly’s $25,000, at last report.
Other conservatives winning the night were Borough Assembly candidates and apparent victors Jimi Cash and Frank Tomaszewski; Aaron Gibson for City Council, and Mathew Sampson for school board.
With just a 16 percent turnout for this local election, conservatives in Fairbanks credited Alaska Family Action and local churches for getting voters turned out. A group started a voteforfairbanks.com, which published a conservative voting guide.
There were no ballot measures driving people to the polls in Fairbanks during the Oct. 1 election.
