Suzanne LaFrance won the nonpartisan general runoff election for mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, on May 14, 2024. LaFrance defeated incumbent David Bronson, 53.5% to 46.5%.
Bronson and LaFrance advanced to the runoff from the nonpartisan general election on April 2. LaFrance received 36.3% of the vote and Bronson received 35.0%. The two advanced to a runoff because neither received more than 45% of the vote.
LaFrance was a former member of the Anchorage Assembly and chaired the Assembly during the first two years of Bronson’s term. LaFrance said she was running to “bring people together and get our future back on track.” LaFrance said her business experience and time on the assembly gave her the necessary knowledge and skillset to turn Anchorage around. LaFrance said she would be a more effective mayor than Bronson: “My pitch is that we can get the basics right, and we can build a better future for everyone in our community.”
First elected in 2021, Bronson ran on his first-term record. Bronson said he opposed the Anchorage Assembly’s efforts to increase tax and spending rates and worked to reopen the city following the COVID-19 pandemic. Bronson said he had the “relentless commitment, vision, and a whole lot of heart” needed for the office. Bronson said he would act as a more effective check on the Assembly than LaFrance: “My administration is standing between single party governance in the city…and the balance that we need within our government.”
Although the election was nonpartisan, Bronson was a registered Republican and LaFrance was a registered nonpartisan. The Alaska Republican Party endorsed Bronson and the Alaska Democratic Party endorsed LaFrance.
As of April 2024, 63 mayors in the 100 largest cities by population were affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 were affiliated with the Republican Party, one was affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four were independents, five identified as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two had unknown partisan affiliations.