UPDATE: Results are now certified by the Nome Common Council.
Election results for the City of Nome are in John Handeland is set to be Mayor of Nome with 55% of the vote. Handeland has held the position of Interim Mayor for the past few months after former Mayor Richard Beneville died in May.
Otherwise, it was a quiet election day in Nome. Only the mayoral race was contested.
| Mayor | John Handeland – 312 votes Colleen Deighton – 124 votes Ken Hughes – 109 votes |
| Common Council Seat A (3-year term) | Adam Martinson – 490 votes |
| Common Council Seat B (3-year term) | Doug Johnson – 479 votes |
| Utility Board Seat B (2-year term) | Derek McLarty – 475 votes |
| Utility Board Seat E (3-year term) | Carl Emmons – 508 votes |
| School Board Seat B (3-year term) | Jill Peters – 496 votes |
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more voters turned out this year in Nome to cast their ballots than last year’s election. City Clerk Bryant Hammond reported 567 ballots were cast. Hammond says about 15 absentee ballots still need to be counted as of Tuesday night; not a significant number to change the results of any race.
Even with better turnout than last year, only 21.5% of Nome’s eligible voters made their voices heard in Tuesday’s municipal election.
Results will not be official until they are certified by the Nome Common Council at noon on Thursday.
KNOM’s Emily Hofstaedter also contributed to this report.
Image at top: Stickers proclaiming “Naliġaaniktuŋa!” or “I Voted!” in Iñupiaq, at the polls in Nome. Photo: Matthew F. Smith, KNOM.
