Candidacy filing packets are now available online and at Homer City Hall.

By Delcenia Cosman

Homer Independent Press

Do you want to run for a seat on the city council or for the Homer mayor’s office this fall? Candidacy filing packets are available now, online through the City of Homer website or at the city clerk’s office in Homer City Hall. The filing period runs 8 a.m. Sept. 1 through 4:30 p.m. Sept. 15. 

Homer voters will elect a new mayor for a two-year term this fall. Current Mayor Rachel Lord, who was elected in 2024 and previously served seven years on the Homer City Council, said in March that she will not seek reelection. 

Two council seats, currently held by Bradley Parsons and Caroline Venuti, are also up for election. Candidates elected to the council will each serve a three-year term. 

Parsons is finishing out his second one-year term on the council; he was first appointed to office in 2024, after Lord was elected mayor, and maintained his seat in last fall’s election. He told the Homer Independent Press Tuesday that he intends to run for reelection, this time for a full three-year term. 

Venuti has held her seat on the council since 2017. If reelected, this will be her fourth term. She did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation that she will seek reelection.

Candidates are eligible to file for city office if they are a qualified voter in the City of Homer and have been a city resident for at least one year prior to Election Day. 

Find additional candidate filing requirements and current election information on the City of Homer website.

City and borough elections will take place Nov. 3 alongside the state general election, as a result of the ballot measure passed last year which aligns all municipal and state election dates.

The borough filing period is open through Aug. 31. Voters in the southern Kenai Peninsula will elect a borough mayor, a new District 8 borough assembly representative and three members to the South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board.

Incumbent Borough Mayor Peter Micciche filed for reelection at the start of the borough candidate filing period. 

As of Tuesday evening, no candidates had filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission for any other borough seats. However, the KPB website showed about half a dozen candidates for seats on the assembly, school board and three service areas have submitted candidacy statements to the borough, including current SPH Service Area Board chair Francie Roberts and board member Tamara Fletcher, as well as assembly District 8 hopeful Theo Noomah.