A great surprise from Anchorage, Alaska! Anchorage held its municipal election tonight and several positive things happened. First, moderate candidate Rick Mystrom, our incumbent mayor, defeated challenger and former mayor Tom Fink by a comfortable margin. Neither could be described as gay-friendly, but Tom Fink was the ultra-conservative who helped vote down Anchorage's Gay Rights Ordinance in 1993. Tonights surprise, however, came in the School Board race. It was widely believed that the board would retain the 4 liberal 3 conservative standing or, in the worst case scenario, pick up a seat and take over the board. What happened was better than anyone anticipated. Liberal challenger Rita Holthouse came from behind and defeated Lorraine Ferrell, a staunch conservative. The victory of Rita Holthouse, who served 16 years as a high school principal in Anchorage, means the liberals now have a decided lead on the board at 5 liberals, 2 conservatives. (Note: it is 1 A.M. Wednesday morning and 60 % of the vote has been counted with Mayor Mystrom leading by 14 %, and Holthouse leading by 11 %.)

Anchorage Daily News, April 16, 1997

HOLTHOUSE OUSTS INCUMBENT

By Rosemary Shinohara - Daily News reporter

After a tough, high-spending campaign, former East High principal Rita Holthouse claimed a School Board seat from incumbent Lorraine Ferrell. Two other incumbents, President Debbie Ossiander and Harriet Drummond, easily won re-election to the board.

But while the victory came easy, the campaign seemed long and intense, said Drummond. "I'm very happy this is over." She saw her win as an endorsement by voters of the current board's direction.

Ferrell and two candidates for the other School Board seats, Jay Page and Kathy Haywood, ran campaigns urging residents to vote conservative. The three were backed by the Republican Party of Alaska, and another group, Citizens for Sound Policy, which bought advertising. Page ran against Drummond, and Haywood was one of two challenging Ossiander.

"I'd say it obviously didn't work," said Holthouse, who had a solid lead over Ferrell early this morning. "I feel like the people are looking for someone to represent the broad spectrum."

Despite the push to elect a conservative slate, Holthouse's election, along with Drummond and Ossiander, leaves the board with a stronger moderate majority. With Ferrell on the board, decisions have often been made on a 4-3 vote, with Ferrell and two others in the minority. Holthouse said during the campaign she is neither conservative nor liberal.

The conservative theme seemed to resonate with voters interviewed outside polling places, whether they were for or against what the Republican-backed candidates stand for.

Frank Garcia Jr., a 58-year-old housebuilder with no children in Anchorage schools, said he voted against incumbents Drummond and Ossiander because he didn't like the fact that the School Board had allowed an extra-curricular club called the Gay/Straight Alliance to exist at Dimond High School. "It's a matter of exercising good, conservative judgment," Garcia said.

Amy Powers, 43, who has two children in elementary school, said she voted for Holthouse and the incumbents in the other two races. "I feel they have done a fair job. I just think they should work more on downsizing the classroom size," She said.

Pollster Ivan Moore, who conducted opinion surveys for Drummond and Holthouse, said before the election that he thought the conservative School Board candidates espoused views from the religious right that are more extreme than most voters accept - restricting circulation of books and limiting extracurricular clubs to academic subjects only, for example. "Anchorage is a conservative town, but not that conservative," Moore said. "They're not in favor of banning books."

Ossiander said she thinks some voters were concerned that "extremist agendas might take over the School Board, and it wouldn't be as mainstream an organization." On the campaign trail, she said, she heard some people express those fears. Others, she said, had a more traditional sentiment: "Throw the bums out."

In the third contest, Ossiander's two opponents - Haywood, 39, and Myrtle Lewis, 32 - were each making first attempts at elective office. Ossiander, 47, was appointed to the board in 1992 and easily won election to seat G the next year.

Haywood described herself as a dedicated Christian and said all elementary schools should offer back-to-basics curriculum. Lewis also supports a back-to-basics curriculum. Lewis ran a low-budget campaign, while Haywood raised more than $13,000.

Editors note: for official election returns on the Internet, go to the city's election page on the World Wide Web:

http://www.ci.anchorage.ak.us/elections/