Anchorage, Alaska
| Anchorage, Alaska | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Anchorage
Suzanne LaFrance | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 12 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 293,531 |
| Race: | White 62.6% African American 5.6% Asian 9.6% Native American 7.9% Pacific Islander 2.4% Two or more 9.5% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 9.2% |
| Median household income: | $84,928 |
| High school graduation rate: | 93.9% |
| College graduation rate: | 36.1% |
| Related Anchorage offices | |
| Alaska Congressional Delegation Alaska State Legislature Alaska state executive offices | |
Anchorage is a city in Alaska. The city's population was 291,247 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government and Council-manager government
The city of Anchorage utilizes a council-manager system combined with a strong mayor. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive. The mayor, however, appoints a city manager to oversee the city's day-to-day operations and execute city policies.[1]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels. The current Mayor of Anchorage is Suzanne LaFrance (nonpartisan). LaFrance assumed office in 2024.
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning, and implementing the city's operating budget, and appointing departmental directors and other senior-level positions.[1]
City council
The Anchorage Assembly is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2]
The Anchorage Assembly has 12 members. Each district elects two members to three-year terms.[2]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Anchorage has a mayor who identifies as nonpartisan or unaffiliated. As of November 2024, 63 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held general elections for mayor, assembly member, and service area board of supervisors on April 2, 2024. Anchorage held a general runoff election for mayor on May 14, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was January 26, 2024.
Anchorage, Alaska, also held general elections for superior court and district court on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was August 1, 2024.
2023
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held general elections for assembly and service area boards of supervisors on April 4, 2023. The regular filing deadline for this election was January 27, 2023, and the write-in candidate filing deadline was March 28, 2023.
A special election was also held on April 4, 2023, for Anchorage Assembly District 5 Seat H. Forrest Dunbar resigned his seat after he was elected to the state Senate in November 2022. The filing deadline was January 27, 2023.
2022
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held general elections for city council and service area boards of supervisors on April 5, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was January 28, 2022.
The city also held a special general election for Anchorage Assembly District 1 Seat L on June 21, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was May 10, 2022.[3]
Superior court judge and district court judges were up for retention on November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was August 8, 2022.
2021
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held general elections for mayor and service area board of supervisors on April 6, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was January 29, 2021.
2020
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held general elections for city council districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and service area boards of supervisors on April 7, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was January 31, 2020.
Third District superior and district court judges were also up for retention on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was August 3, 2020.
2019
2018
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held a general election for mayor on April 3, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was February 2, 2018.
Anchorage, Alaska, held a special election for the District 3-Seat E seat on the Anchorage Assembly on August 7, 2018. The filing deadline for this election was July 3, 2018.[4]
2017
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held elections for city council on April 4, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 10, 2017. Six of the 11 city council seats were up for election.[5]
2016
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, held elections for city council on April 5, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 12, 2016. Five of the 11 city council seats were up for election.
2015
The municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, held nonpartisan elections for mayor on April 7, 2015. A runoff election took place on May 5, 2015.[6][7] The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 13, 2015.[8]
2014
The municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, held elections for city council on April 1, 2014. A total of six of the 11 seats were up for election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
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| Demographic Data for Anchorage | |
|---|---|
| Anchorage | |
| Population | 291,247 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 1,707 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 59.2% |
| Black/African American | 5.3% |
| Asian | 9.8% |
| Native American | 7.4% |
| Pacific Islander | 2.9% |
| Two or more | 12.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.7% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 94.2% |
| College graduation rate | 37% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $95,731 |
| Persons below poverty level | 6.3% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from January 1 through December 31 of each year. The responsibility for drafting a budget falls to the director of the office of management and budget. The proposed annual budget is then presented to the assembly by the mayor at least 90 days before the start of the next fiscal year. The assembly is required to hold at least two public hearings regarding the proposed budget before adoption.[9]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[10]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[11] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[12] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[10]
Anchorage, Alaska, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
632 W 6th Avenue
Suite 840
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-343-7100
City Clerk's office
632 W 6th Avenue
Suite 250
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-343-4311
Click here for city assembly contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Anchorage, Alaska ballot measures
Anchorage is a consolidated city-borough (or city-county). A list of ballot measures in Anchorage is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Anchorage, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Anchorage, Alaska, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Town Square Park.[13] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Anchorage, Alaska, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[14]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 City Charter of Anchorage, AK, "Secs. 5.01-03," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 City Charter of Anchorage, AK, "Secs. 4.01," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ Municipality of Anchorage, "ANCHORAGE, ALASKA AR No. 2022-96," March 23, 2022
- ↑ Municipality of Anchorage, "Special Election of August 7, 2018," accessed July 26, 2018
- ↑ Municipality of Anchorage, "2017 Regular Municipal Election Calendar," accessed December 20, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Dispatch, "Where they stand: Anchorage mayoral candidates Berkowitz and Demboski on the issues," April 8, 2015
- ↑ Charter of the Municipality of Anchorage, "Article XI, section 11.02," accessed February 16, 2015
- ↑ Municipality of Anchorage, "Elections," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ City Charter of Anchorage, AK, "Secs. 13.01-13.04," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Alaska Public Radio, "Death of George Floyd sparks solidarity rallies across Alaska," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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