Unofficial results from Nome’s Tuesday municipal election show voters rejecting a proposed sale tax increase on alcohol and tobacco, as well as the defeat of a last-minute write-in candidate for school board.
Proposition 1 on yesterday’s ballot asked voters to increase the sales tax on tobacco and alcohol products, including sales in bars and restaurants, from 5 to 8 percent. Preliminary results Tuesday night show the vote failed, with 270 votes “no” to 242 votes “yes.”
The narrow margin reflected a split among voters.
“I voted yes, in favor of it,” said Frank Leslie Johnson II outside Old St. Joe’s Tuesday, the city’s sole polling station. “It’s a luxury item, so if it’s a luxury, it should be taxed.”
Mary Fergerson disagreed. “I put no, because we’re already paying taxes in the city of Nome. And that’s enough.”
Cliff McHenry said he’d seen alcohol remain a “big issue” in Nome for the past 20 years. “I voted to raise it, because [alcohol abuse] … needs to be addressed. And hopefully [this] will give some funds to continue that.”
School Board Seat B became a contentious race last week when write-in candidate Charles Pullock began actively campaigning just a week before the election against Brandy Arrington, who had been running unopposed since submitting her candidacy to the city by the September 15 deadline.
Still-unofficial results show Arrington essentially defeating Pullock’s write-in effort for Seat B, taking 306 votes to just 175 write-ins. City elections require candidates get a plurality of votes—50 percent of the votes, plus one vote—and Arrington’s 64 percent of the Seat B votes “is a clear plurality,” City Clerk Tom Moran said after an initial count of the ballots.
Upon hearing the results, Arrington said she’s ready to get to work.
“I want to show my enthusiasm, and I want teachers and students and everyone to know I’m all about them, and doing what we can to make the right decisions for everyone.”
Outside the sales tax question and the contest for School Board Seat B, incumbents for all five remaining seats—Fred Moody and Carl Emmons for the utility board, Tom Sparks and Louie Green Sr. for the city council, and Jennifer Reader for School Board Seat A—all easily won reelection, with only a handful of write-in votes against them.
In all, 516 ballots were cast in person, with 14 absentee ballots. Roughly 2,400 people are registered to vote in Nome; 530 votes means, unofficially, voter turnout was about 22 percent.
The city will officially confirm the election results Thursday.
