By Gretchen Wehmhoff

updated  Oct. 8

Andrew Cremata will serve a third term as Skagway’s mayor. With preliminary results in from the Oct. 5 municipal election, Cremata held onto the seat with 239 votes to opponent Christy Murphy’s 136.  

Absentee in-person and mail-in ballots were tallied Oct. 7, widening the gaps, but not changing the results.

 The new mayoral results are: Cremata 339, Murphy 196. 

In the assembly race, incumbents Jay Burnham and Deb Potter will retain their seats.  Burnham led the three candidates with 294 votes. Potter brought in 264 and William Lockette II, in his first entrance into politics, garnered 108 votes.

Updated counts from Oct. 7: Burnham 407, Lockette 156, Potter 373.

The high vote getter on Tuesday was John Hischerwith 332 votes.  He and Cory Thole, with 277 votes, were uncontested for the two school board seats.

Updated school board tallies: Hischer 470, Thole 387.

Emily Deach, in her last election cycle as borough clerk before moving on to deputy city manager, said that she mailed out 30 absentee ballots.  As of Tuesday evening, 19 of those had been returned and 139 people had voted absentee in-person. The deadline to receive the mail-in ballots was Oct. 7 at 4 p.m.

-person ballots, were  counted by the Canvass Board at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct.7 in the assembly chambers.

Potter, in her first election after being appointed to fill Steve Burnham’s seat, said she enjoyed the campaign and interacting with the other candidates.  

“I felt like I was up there with two other friends,” referring to Burnham and Lockette, “and we were all wanting to do the best for Skagway,” she said, reflecting on the Sept. 20 Candidate Forum sponsored by KHNS and The Skagway News.

Will Lockette joins fellow Skagwegians in a rally to protect the AMHS ferry routes to Skagway. Photo provided by William Lockette, II

“I’m really excited, really excited for the next two years for Skagway,” said Potter.

Burnham felt the election was pretty straightforward.

“I’m always very humbled when I’m thought of in the booth, that people put their trust in you,” he said.

Cremata said the meet and greets he shared with Potter brought a lot of interest. 

Some business owners came to see him to talk about their ideas. “And they were great ideas,” said Cremata.  

There are 1,234 registered voters in Skagway.

Newly elected officials will take office on Monday, Oct. 11.

This story was update Oct. 8 to include the final vote count.