Mat-Su residents can run for office in these key borough races

What you need to know:

• Mat-Su Borough residents must file candidacy papers between Aug. 19 and Aug. 30 for the Nov. 5 election to run for mayor, assembly, or school board seats.
• Seven offices, including the borough mayor, assembly seats in Districts 3, 6, and 7, and school board seats in Districts 1, 4, and 5, are open for candidates.
• Winners of the mayoral and assembly races will serve four-year terms due to a new rule; the measure approved by the current assembly applies to candidates elected in November and beyond. School board members will serve three years, except for District 5, which is a one-year term because the election there is filling a vacancy.

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Mat-Su Borough residents who want to run for mayor, assembly or school board this fall must file candidacy papers with the borough clerk's office next month.

Seven Matanuska-Susitna Borough offices will be open for candidates in the Nov. 5 election, including borough mayor, according to the borough's website. Assembly seats in districts 3, 6, and 7 will be open, as well as school board seats in districts 1, 4, and 5.

The candidate filing period opens Aug. 19 at 8 a.m. and closes Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. Candidate declaration packets can be picked up at the borough administration building in Palmer beginning Aug. 16.

Any borough resident who is eligible to vote and has lived in the borough for one year may file as a candidate for mayor. Those filing for school board or assembly fall under the same rules but must also live in the district for which they are running.

Residents elected to the school board this year will serve three-year terms, with the exception of the candidate elected to District 5, who will serve a one-year before running for reelection in 2026.  

That seat was vacated last year by Jacob Butcher, who represented District 5 and resigned due to an out-of-state move. Anthony "Brooks" Pitcher was appointed by the school board to take his place until this year's election. To keep the seat, Pitcher must now win it in November.

Winners of the Assembly member and Borough mayor seats will each serve four-year terms under a rule new this year. Previous candidates were elected for three-year terms.

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The measure extending assembly and mayoral terms an additional year was approved by the current assembly earlier this year. It applies only to candidates elected in November and beyond and does not apply to current terms for assembly members or borough mayor. The measure did not require voter approval. 

A change approved by voters in 2022 limits Mat-Su Assembly members and the borough mayor to two terms each; school board members are not subject to term limits. 

While incumbents and new candidates can't file to appear on the ballot until mid-August, they can file letters of intent with the state, which signal their intent to run.

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Pitcher and incumbent school board member Thomas Bergey, who represents District 1, have both filed such forms. District 4 incumbent Jubilee Underwood, who is currently running in the state House Republican primary, has not filed such a declaration of intent for her school board seat.

In the mayor's race, current Mayor Edna DeVries has filed a letter of intent.

In the assembly races, incumbents Dmitri Fonov, who represents District 6, and Dee McKee, who represents District 3, have both filed letters of intent. Ron Bernier, who represents District 7, has not filed the form but said in an interview Monday that he intends to run for reelection.

-- Amy Bushatz can be contacted at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.