//Run for office · Alaska

How to run for local office in Alaska

Alaska has no counties: boroughs and cities run their own local elections on their own dates, and voters just restored contribution limits that will cover municipal races.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Alaska splits election work in a way no other state does. The Division of Elections, under the Lieutenant Governor, runs state and federal elections, registers voters, sells voter lists through five regional offices, and even runs school board elections for the Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAAs) in the unorganized borough. Boroughs and cities run their own municipal elections through a borough or city clerk on dates set by local code: Anchorage in April, Fairbanks North Star Borough in October, Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska-Susitna in November.

Campaign finance is statewide. The Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) takes reports from municipal candidates on the same online system as state candidates. Since a 2021 court ruling Alaska has had no limit on what an individual may give a candidate, but voters approved Ballot Measure 1 in the August 18, 2026 primary by 72 to 28 percent, restoring a $2,000-per-election-cycle individual limit that applies to local as well as state campaigns once it takes effect.

Election authority: Alaska Division of Elections (Office of the Lieutenant Governor)
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Campaign finance: APOC online filing through my.alaska.gov (Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC))
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: 30 days before election day, for state and municipal elections alike; the application must be postmarked or received by then. Alaska also registers voters automatically through the Permanent Fund Dividend application (the Division's PFD automatic voter registration program).
Local offices: Municipal elections are nonpartisan; party does not appear on borough or city ballots, and the borough calendars cited here list none.

Who runs elections in Alaska

Alaska Division of Elections (Office of the Lieutenant Governor) The Division of Elections maintains the statewide voter registration list, sells voter lists through its regional offices, publishes absentee and early-voting statistics, runs state primaries and generals, and administers REAA school board elections in the unorganized borough. It does not run borough or city elections; for a municipal race the Division is your data source and the borough or city clerk is your filing officer.

Boroughs and cities administer their own elections through the borough or city clerk, who accepts declarations of candidacy, sets the filing window under local code, prints ballots, runs early and absentee voting, and certifies results. They use the state voter registration list, so a voter registered with the Division of Elections is registered for local elections too. The Division's regional offices in Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, and Wasilla handle registration and voter lists for their areas. Examples: the Fairbanks North Star Borough Clerk runs elections for borough mayor, assembly, school board, and the gas utility board; the Kenai Peninsula Borough Clerk and Matanuska-Susitna Borough Clerk do the same for their boroughs.

Getting the Alaska voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Alaska it comes from Alaska Division of Elections (regional offices).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: Confirm with Alaska Division of Elections (regional offices)
Format: Confirm with Alaska Division of Elections (regional offices)
Vote history: Not confirmed
Phone numbers: Not confirmed
Updated: Confirm with Alaska Division of Elections (regional offices)

Who can get it: The Division's research page says voter lists are available for purchase and to contact any regional office for assistance; it lists no eligibility restriction. Confirm the request form and any conditions with the regional office when you order.

Permitted use: Not stated on the Division's page. Treat it as a public record bought for campaign use and ask the regional office what restrictions apply before ordering.

County option: There are no counties. Borough and city clerks do not maintain separate registration lists; they use the state list, so order the list for your borough, city, or house district from the Division's regional office that covers your area.

Regional offices: Region I Juneau, (907) 465-3021, covers Southeast, Kodiak, Cordova, Seward, and the southern Kenai Peninsula; Region II Anchorage, (907) 522-8683, covers Anchorage and Whittier; Region III Fairbanks, (907) 451-2835, covers the Interior; Region IV Nome, (907) 443-5285, covers northern, western, and southwest Alaska and the Aleutians; Region V Wasilla, (907) 373-8952, covers Mat-Su, the northern Kenai Peninsula, Valdez, and Denali.
Voter registration statistics by age, party, and precinct are free on the Division's statistics page and are the fastest way to size a district before you buy the list.
The Division also posts list-maintenance statistics (notices mailed, records purged, inactive records removed), which tell you how fresh the list is.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Alaska

For borough assembly, city council, mayor, and school board you file a declaration of candidacy with the borough or city clerk during a filing period set by local code, typically a two-week window two to three months before the election. There is no state filing and no state fee for municipal offices. Candidates for the legislature file with the Division of Elections; candidates for REAA school boards in the unorganized borough file with the Division, which mails the ballots for those races.

File with: Borough or city clerk (municipal offices); Division of Elections (legislature, and REAA school boards in the unorganized borough)
Filing fee: Confirm with the filing officer
Petition: Confirm with the filing officer
Partisan?: Municipal elections are nonpartisan; party does not appear on borough or city ballots, and the borough calendars cited here list none.

Filing window: Each municipality's code sets the window. In 2026: Fairbanks North Star Borough July 15 (8 a.m.) to July 29 (5 p.m.) for its October 6 election; Kenai Peninsula Borough August 17 (9 a.m.) to August 31 (4:30 p.m.) for November 3; Matanuska-Susitna Borough August 17 (8 a.m.) to August 28 (5 p.m.) for November 3. REAA declarations were due to the Division by 5 p.m. August 7, 2026 for ballots mailed September 11. Expect the same relative timing in 2027 and confirm the dates with your clerk in early summer.

Key Alaska dates
What	When	Note
Anchorage regular municipal election	Varies	Held in April; the 2026 election was April 7 (APOC Anchorage calendar). Confirm the 2027 date and filing period with the Municipal Clerk.
Voter registration deadline for an October 5, 2027 municipal election	September 5, 2027	30 days before election day (Division of Elections); Kenai Peninsula Borough applied the same 30-day rule for its 2026 election
Voter registration deadline for a November 2, 2027 municipal election	October 3, 2027	30 days before election day; registration is with the Division of Elections and covers local elections
Fairbanks North Star Borough regular election	October 5, 2027	First Tuesday in October each year (FNSB); a 2026 ballot proposition proposed moving it to November, so confirm. The 2026 filing period ran July 15 to 29.
Kenai Peninsula Borough regular election	November 2, 2027	First Tuesday after the first Monday in November (KPB). The 2026 filing period was August 17 to August 31, 4:30 p.m.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough regular election	November 2, 2027	First Tuesday after the first Monday in November (Mat-Su); the 2026 filing period was August 17 to August 28, 5 p.m.
REAA school board declaration of candidacy	Varies	Filed with the Division of Elections; the 2026 deadline was 5 p.m. Friday, August 7, for ballots mailed September 11. Three-year terms.
Municipal candidate filing period	Varies	Set by borough or city code; in 2026 the windows ran mid-July (FNSB) or mid-to-late August (KPB, Mat-Su). Ask your clerk for the 2027 dates.

Kenai Peninsula Borough allows candidate withdrawal in the week after filing closes (September 1 to 7 in 2026) and certifies results a week after the election.
For the legislature, the Division's filing page directs questions to the Director's Office at (907) 465-4611; the state deadline is June 1 in election years.

Campaign finance rules in Alaska

State-level campaign finance in Alaska is overseen by Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) through APOC online filing through my.alaska.gov.

Where local candidates file: Municipal candidates file with APOC, the same agency as state candidates; the Campaign Disclosure Law covers 'state and municipal candidates.' You register and file online through my.alaska.gov. APOC publishes a separate candidate reporting calendar for the Anchorage April election, for the October borough and city elections, and for the November ones, and lists each on its municipal election reporting deadlines page. Ask APOC ((907) 276-4176) whether your municipality participates in state reporting before you assume the schedule.

Contribution limits: As of APOC's contribution limits page on September 9, 2026: no limit on what an individual, resident or not, may give a candidate (the result of the 2021 Thompson v. Hebdon decision); an Alaska-based group may give a candidate $1,000 per calendar year; an individual may give a political party $5,000 per year. Ballot Measure 1 (23RCF2), approved 117,962 to 45,418 (72.2 percent yes) in the August 18, 2026 primary, amends AS 15.13.070 so that an individual may give a candidate $2,000 each election cycle, a non-party group $4,000 each election cycle, and either may give a party or group $5,000 a year, with inflation adjustments every ten years starting in 2031. The measure covers state and local elections and takes effect 90 days after the Lieutenant Governor certifies the election (Alaska Constitution, art. XI, sec. 6), so expect it to govern 2027 municipal races; confirm the effective date with APOC.

Reporting: For a municipal election: a Year Start report due mid-February covering through February 1; a 30-day report; a 7-day report; 24-hour reports for any contribution over $250 from one source during the nine days before the election; and a 105-day report after the election. The last day a candidate may give or loan the campaign more than $5,000 is the end of the 30-day reporting period; contributions must stop 45 days after the election and leftover funds be distributed within 90 days (APOC 2026 municipal candidate calendars).

APOC's 2026 October calendar for the October 6 borough and city elections: Year Start report February 17, 30-day report September 8, 7-day report September 29, 105-day report January 19, 2027.
APOC's 2026 Anchorage calendar for the April 7 election: 30-day report March 9, 7-day report March 31, 105-day report July 21.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Alaska

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. Alaska is a no-excuse state: anyone may vote absentee by mail, fax, or online delivery, or vote early in person. Municipal elections follow their own local rules but the same pattern: polling places on election day, absentee in person for about two weeks beforehand, and absentee by mail on application. Anchorage runs its municipal elections primarily by mail; check the Municipal Clerk's site for that calendar.

Early voting: For state elections, absentee in-person and early voting locations open 15 days before election day. Boroughs set their own: Kenai Peninsula opened absentee in-person voting October 19 for its November 3, 2026 election, and Mat-Su ran early voting October 19 through November 2 at five sites.
Mail ballots: State elections: apply by mail up to 10 days before election day (the 2026 general deadline was October 24); a mailed ballot must be postmarked by election day and an in-person return is due by 8 p.m. Mat-Su requires absentee-by-mail applications at least seven days before its election; Kenai Peninsula set October 27 for its November 3, 2026 election.
Registration deadline: 30 days before election day, for state and municipal elections alike; the application must be postmarked or received by then. Alaska also registers voters automatically through the Permanent Fund Dividend application (the Division's PFD automatic voter registration program).
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: The Division publishes absentee and early voting statistics for each state election on its statistics page (ballots issued and received by type: mail, fax, early vote, online delivery, in person, questioned, special needs), back to 2004; those are counts, not names. Per-voter absentee and early-vote lists are purchased through the regional office like any other voter list, so ask specifically for the absentee application and early-vote files for the election. For a borough or city election the clerk holds the absentee and early-vote rosters; ask the clerk what they release during the window and how often.

Local government in Alaska: what you can run for

Alaska has no counties. Organized boroughs (unified home-rule municipalities such as Anchorage and Juneau, and first- and second-class boroughs such as Fairbanks North Star, Kenai Peninsula, and Matanuska-Susitna) provide area-wide services including schools, and cities inside them provide city services. The rest of the state is the unorganized borough, where there is no borough government: cities there stand alone and K-12 schools are run by Regional Educational Attendance Areas (REAAs) whose boards are elected in Division-run mail elections. School boards in organized boroughs are elected at the borough election, along with service area boards for fire, roads, and hospitals.

Borough assembly member
Borough mayor
City council member
City mayor
Borough or city school board member
REAA school board member (unorganized borough)
Service area board member (fire, road, hospital)
State representative and senator

When local elections happen: Each municipality sets its regular election date by code and most vote in the fall: Fairbanks North Star Borough on the first Tuesday in October, Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska-Susitna on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, Anchorage in April. Local elections are never consolidated with the state's August primary or November general, so a local race is a stand-alone turnout operation. REAA ballots go out in September.

Running your Alaska campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Alaska today. You upload the Alaska voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Alaska campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Alaska questions we get asked

Who runs local elections in Alaska if there are no counties?

The borough or city clerk. Alaska boroughs and cities each run their own elections under local code, on their own dates, using the statewide registration list kept by the Division of Elections. The Fairbanks North Star Borough Clerk, for example, runs the October election for borough mayor, assembly, school board, and the gas utility board; the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su borough clerks run November elections. In the unorganized borough, where there is no borough at all, the state Division of Elections runs the REAA school board elections by mail.

How do I get the Alaska voter list for my borough or city?

From the Division of Elections regional office that covers your area, not from the clerk. The Division's research page says voter lists are available for purchase and to contact any regional office; Alaska has five (Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, Wasilla). The page does not publish prices, formats, or field lists, so ask the office for the current order form and cost, and ask for the absentee and early-vote files if you plan to chase ballots. Free registration counts by precinct and party are on the statistics page.

What are Alaska's contribution limits for a city council or assembly race after Ballot Measure 1?

Today there is no limit on individual gifts to an Alaska candidate and a $1,000-per-year limit on Alaska groups (APOC). Ballot Measure 1 passed on August 18, 2026 with 72.2 percent and rewrites AS 15.13.070: $2,000 per election cycle from an individual to a candidate, $4,000 per cycle from a non-party group, $5,000 per year to parties and groups, indexed to inflation every ten years from 2031. It applies to local campaigns and becomes law 90 days after the Lieutenant Governor certifies the election, so budget your 2027 municipal race under the new limits and confirm the effective date with APOC.

Do Alaska municipal candidates report to APOC?

Yes. Alaska's Campaign Disclosure Law covers state and municipal candidates, and municipal candidates file online through my.alaska.gov on the schedule in APOC's municipal candidate calendars: a Year Start report in mid-February, a 30-day report, a 7-day report, 24-hour reports for contributions over $250 in the last nine days, and a 105-day report after the election. Some small municipalities do not participate; call APOC at (907) 276-4176 to confirm yours does.

When is my Alaska borough or city election, and when do I file?

It depends on your municipality's code. Fairbanks North Star Borough votes the first Tuesday in October (October 5, 2027) with filing in mid-July; Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska-Susitna vote the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (November 2, 2027) with filing in the second half of August; Anchorage votes in April. Alaska municipal elections never share a ballot with the state's August primary or November general, so check the clerk's election page in early summer for the exact filing window.

How can an Alaska campaign track who has already voted?

For state elections the Division of Elections posts absentee and early voting statistics by ballot type on its statistics page, and sells per-voter lists through the regional offices; ask for the absentee application and early-vote files for the election you are in. For an Alaska borough or city election the clerk holds the rosters, so ask the clerk before the window opens what they will release and how often. Registration closes 30 days out, so your universe is fixed a month before election day.

What is an REAA and who runs those elections in Alaska?

A Regional Educational Attendance Area is a school district in Alaska's unorganized borough, where there is no borough government to run schools. REAA boards are elected by mail in elections administered by the state Division of Elections rather than a local clerk. In 2026 declarations of candidacy were due to the Division by 5 p.m. August 7, ballots were mailed September 11, and terms are three years. Candidates must be registered Alaska voters living within the REAA's boundaries.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.