1% seasonal sales tax passing; Niven narrowly leads District 2 Assembly race in early election tally

Mark Sabbatini

12 hours ago

4 min read

Close vote on higher mill rate cap; 3% sales tax renewal set to pass; Kelly has large Assembly Areawide lead; Cioni-Haywood and Noon top school board race

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This is a developing story.

Voters are approving a 1% seasonal sales tax 56.8% to 43.2%, rejecting a higher mill rate 51.9% to 48.1%, and approving a five-year renewal of a 3% temporary sales tax by a roughly 80% to 20% tally in initial returns for Juneau’s municipal election released Tuesday night.

The unofficial first results are for 5,962 ballots tallied out of 27,768 eligible voters, according to the city clerk’s office.

"Based on the trends of previous elections, the preliminary unofficial results now posted are expected to represent approximately 55-60% of the total ballot count," a notice at the city’s website states.

The preliminary results also show Joyce Niven with about 33.6% of the vote in the four-candidate Assembly District 2 race, ahead of Malachi Thorington with 25.6%, Karla Hart with 24.3% and David Lee Morris with 16.6%.

Niven, in a text message response to the Juneau Independent, stated "A 4 person race is tough and I am optimistic. And of course, I am very grateful for all the votes."

Thorington, in an interview Tuesday night, acknowledged he faces an uphill battle in overtaking Niven when all the ballots are counted, but said "it's an interesting race and it’s nice to see that voters have options."

"I’d love to see someday that we have ranked choice voting to really offer more detail on what voters are thinking and feeling," he said. "But overall I hope this close race motivates more people to run for public office in the future."

Areawide Assembly incumbent Paul Kelly has 63% of the initial vote, well ahead of Brad Sapp at 31.1% and James McCants at 5.9%. Assembly District 1 candidate Mila Cosgrove is assured of a victory in the Assembly District 1 race since she is unopposed.

In the Juneau Board of Education race for two open seats, incumbents David Noon with 40.3% and Britteny Cioni-Haywood with 37.1% are ahead of challenger Christine Johnson at 22.6% for two open seats.

The seasonal sales tax, which would be in effect from April 1 to Sept. 30, was placed on the ballot by a citizens' petition in response to tax-cut measures passed by voters last year that resulted in budget cuts by city leaders. The seasonal tax is projected to raise about $6.8 million annually, split between locals and visitors. Supporters say their intent is to "fund indoor and outdoor recreation." However, city leaders are not required to spend the tax revenue for that purpose.

Raising the mill rate cap to 12 instead of nine was also a citizens’ initiative that sought to undo that switch to the lower rate that voters passed last year. While that change had little effect since the Assembly needed only a 0.16 reduction in last year’s rate to meet the new cap, supporters of the higher ceiling argue it will give the city leaders the ability to obtain necessary revenue if unexpected or emergency needs arise.

The mixed vote on this year’s propositions suggests residents are open to higher taxes on seasonal visitors and industries at a time they are also still worrying about everyday costs including property values and taxes, Thorington said.

"I guess the biggest takeaway from all of this is that there is no overwhelming consensus for anything in any of these numbers that we're seeing," he said. "I guess that is probably the most concerning thing — that people are still fairly divided. I guess that is the state of the nation these days. And based off of that division I foresee a very tumultuous city government going forward. It is only going to get more difficult before it gets easier. So I hope that the new folks coming on the Assembly, whoever that is, bring a level head with them. We're all going to need it."

Results posted Tuesday night include "all ballots received, reviewed, and accepted before Election Day," according to the city clerk’s office.

"Updated preliminary unofficial results, including eligible ballots received on or after Election Day, are expected to be published on Friday, October 9, 2026, with additional updates posted as needed until the election is certified," the city’s elections webpage states.

The following are results as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday: