Progressives sweep Anchorage School Board races after recount confirms Higgins’ victory

Progressive school board candidates have won all four of the Anchorage School Board seats on the April 6 ballot following recounts of two close races.

The Anchorage clerks completed the recount of School Board Seat B on Monday, confirming the 224-vote victory of Kelly Lessens, and completed the recount of School Board Seat E on Tuesday, confirming the 370-vote victory of Pat Higgins. They join progressive candidates Dora Wilson and Carl Jacobs, who both had wide margins of victory, in winning seats.

The recount of School Board Seat E was called by municipal clerks because it “may increase voter confidence in the election process.” Higgins had declared victory in a statement last week.

“I am grateful for the support of my family, organizations and individuals that encouraged me to run. My commitment to our community and to our schools stems not only from my children who attended public schools in Anchorage, but now to my grandchildren,” he said. “Furthermore, I want to make sure all children in our public schools receive the best education possible. Our community strives to be diverse, inclusive and welcoming, but we should always work to improve graduation rates, teacher retention and to close the achievement gap.”

They are set to be sworn in on Monday, May 3.

The final results of the School Board Seat B race can be found here. The final results in the School Board Seat E race are as follows:

Higgins: 21,405 (-2)
Graham: 21,039 (+1)
Hilde: 8,264 (-1)
Blakeslee: 6,403 (+1)
Blatchford: 5,267 (0)
Williams: 2,653 (0)

Write-ins were also resolved, resulting in 5 additional Higgins votes, 1 for Blakeslee, 1 for Graham and 1 for Williams.