Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor resigns to focus on gubernatorial campaign

KENAI, Alaska (KTUU) – Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce announced on his campaign’s Facebook page that he is stepping down from his mayoral office to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.

Pierce was elected as borough mayor in 2017 and was reelected in 2020 with 7,649 votes, winning his reelection bid by over 10%. Pierce had one year remaining on his term as mayor. Pierce made the announcement shortly after 8:30 a.m. Friday.

“It has been a pleasure and great honor to serve the residents of the Kenai Peninsula Borough these past five years,” Pierce wrote in his post. “… I also thank all of the residents for their support over the years and now look forward to my campaign to become the next Governor of the Great State of Alaska.”

Currently, Pierce is ranked fourth in the primary election for governor. As of Friday afternoon, Pierce and running mate Edie Grunwald had 12,124 votes, which account for 6.7% of all ballots cast. Pierce trails incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, former Gov. Bill Walker, and former state Rep. Democrat Les Gara. It is likely that Pierce will move on to the ranked-choice general election in November.

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