Ballots are in the mail for the June 21 special election for a member of the 12th Anchorage Assembly, who will represent District 1, North Anchorage.

Voters in North Anchorage neighborhoods – which include Downtown, South Addition, Government Hill, Mountain View, Fairview, Northstar and northern parts of Spenard, Airport Heights, Russian Jack Park, East and Midtown – should receive ballots from vote by Tuesday.

About 37,000 were posted last week, according to the City Clerk’s Office. Voters in District 1 will choose from six candidates on the ballot.

Voters can return their ballot by mail or drop it off at one of the five secure drop boxes open for the Special Election, located in the City Hall parking lot, Clark Middle School, Elections Center , Fairview Community Rec Center and West High School.

An in-person voting center at City Hall will also be open starting June 13, with weekday hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 18 and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. , June 19. Election Day hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Earlier this year, the Assembly passed a new political map, moving the boundaries of Anchorage’s six districts and roughly doubling the size of District 1 to add a 12th member.

In 2020, voters had approved giving the constituency a second elected seat. For years it had been about half the size of the other districts, with only one representative.

The six candidates are vying for a technically non-partisan seat. However, Anchorage has seen increasing division and clashes between Mayor Dave Bronson’s conservative administration and the eight-member assembly majority with moderate to liberal leanings.

• Stephanie Taylor, who lost in the regular election earlier this year to Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar for a seat in East Anchorage, is making another run for the Assembly. Taylor’s residence was screened in the North Anchorage neighborhood when the Assembly passed its updated map, so she can now run again. Taylor has never held elected office before. She was a strong supporter of Mayor Dave Bronson, and the Mayor supported her and several other Conservative candidates for Assembly in the regular election.

• Daniel Volland, optometrist, owner of Ursa Optical downtown and vice-president of the South Addition Community Council, presents his first candidacy for elected office. He has the support of the current Sole Representative of the North Anchorage Assembly, Vice President Chris Constant. Volland supports funding for public safety and homelessness services such as mental health and addictions treatment resources and continued funding for the Fire Department Mobile Crisis Team, downtown revitalization and modernizing the Port of Alaska, among other priorities.

• Candidate Tasha Hotch resides in Mountain View and works for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium as a program manager. She served as Vice President of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Hotch lost a race for a seat on the Anchorage School Board in 2018. Hotch was approved by Anchorage Democrats, and said improving neighborhood safety, supporting families and providing affordable housing are among his top priorities.

•Robin Phillips, an administrative director of the Ted Stevens Foundation, is also a candidate. She is the daughter of longtime Kenai Peninsula politician, former Alaska Rep. Gail Phillips. Phillips has served on several boards of nonprofit and political organizations, including the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club, according to her website. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the Food Bank of Alaska and has served on the Ethics Council for the Municipality of Anchorage.

• Robyn Forbes is a small business owner, previously owned and operated two local businesses, Shred Alaska and The Propane Guys., and is currently a partner of The Eureka Space, a private commercial development in Midtown. Forbes said he has no political party affiliation, opposes any new economic restrictions related to COVID-19, and will focus on economic growth and support for small businesses, according to his website.

• Cliff Baker worked as a project development team leader and land surveyor for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and worked for the Department of Transportation. He said he wants to see better working relationships between the Assembly and the administration, as well as improvements to traffic and pathway safety in Anchorage.