Sullivan, Croft lead field for Anchorage Mayor

(2/5/09) A poll released today shows former Anchorage Assemblyman Dan Sullivan enjoying a narrow lead over former Alaska State Representative Eric Croft in the race for Anchorage Mayor.

The first public poll released on mayoral hopefuls was released by the Croft campaign with ten days still remaining until the official filing deadline for mayoral candidates closes. The deadline for declaring a mayoral run is Friday February 13 at 5pm.

The poll of 500 likely Anchorage voters conducted by Lake Research shows Sullivan favored by 21% of those polled, Croft favored by 18% while 28% of the respondents were undecided. The data released failed to give totals on any of the other candidates in the race but did say that no other candidate polled more than 13%. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4%.

According to the accompanying press release, the poll taken showed Croft had the best positive/negative ratings of any candidate in the race, with a 44 positive and a 17 negative with a 92% name recognition by those polled.

The field for Anchorage Mayor is a crowded one with Sullivan and Croft joined by Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg, former Anchorage police chief and former state public safety commissioner Walt Monegan, retired Anchorage cop Paul Honeman, acting Mayor Matt Claman as well as businessman Dominic S.F. Lee, Merica Hlatcu, Jacob Seth Kern and Melanie K. Leydon.

According to the law, the winning candidate must receive at least 45% of the vote total in the first ballot, or a run off will be required between the top two vote getters.