Petersburg certified the official tally of votes for its municipal election on Oct. 9, finalizing the results.
When the polls closed on election night, there were two questioned ballots and two mail-in ballots outstanding. The questioned ballots were invalid. The outstanding ballots did not arrive before the Petersburg Borough Assembly met as the canvass board to certify the results on Friday.
But those potential votes would not have changed the outcome of the preliminary results — at least not this year.
In 2023, Jeigh Stanton Gregor was elected to the Borough Assembly by one vote. Stanton Gregor ran for reelection this year, and secured another term with 551 votes in the race for one of two 3-year positions.
Outgoing Assembly Member Rob Schwartz was elected in 2023 as well, but he did not run for another term. Schwartz gave a short statement during his last assembly meeting before the election.
“Learned quite a bit. That’s all I got,” Schwartz remarked.
For the other 3-year seat, voters elected Donna Marsh, with 517 votes. Marsh previously served on the Assembly from 2022 until last year, when she wasn’t reelected.
The other contenders for the 3-year seats, Sarah Fine-Walsh (505 votes) and Tom Kowalske (402 votes), were not elected.
Incumbent Scott Newman has been an assembly member since 2022. He was elected for the only 1-year assembly seat, with 712 votes — double the amount his challenger, Don Koenigs, garnered (345 votes).
The final tally for the three ballot propositions also got certified.
By almost double, voters authorized a $3.3 million revenue bond for a diesel generation project in Scow Bay, south of town (709 in favor and 366 against).
The results of the other two sales tax-related propositions were closer.
Voters blocked an increase to the town’s sales tax cap. Official results show the borough-backed proposition failed by 14 votes (with 545 in favor and 559 against). So, the amount that a single purchase can be taxed in Petersburg remains among the lowest in the region.
The measure was on the ballot two years ago and failed by five votes at its final tally.
Voters this year also decided to establish a sales tax exemption for residents age 70 and older. Last year, in a highly contested vote, the town’s senior sales tax exemption was limited to just low-income residents age 65 and older.
That existing low-income exemption won’t change. But passing the ballot prop, which was a citizen initiative, adds another exemption for any senior 70-and-up. The prop officially passed by 20 votes (with 565 in favor and 545 against).
The Borough uses sales tax revenue to support paying for essential services. Adding the exemption is estimated to remove at least $350,000 in sales tax revenue from the Borough.
Assembly members and Borough officials say difficult decisions about services and revenue are on the horizon.
For reelected assembly member Vice Mayor Stanton Gregor, “assessing how we’re going to keep Petersburg financially stable” is top of mind.
“Some other communities in Southeast — looking at you Juneau — are really struggling and having to close facilities the community cares about. I don’t want to see Petersburg go that direction. We have lots of infrastructure here that the community uses and values,” Stanton Gregor told KFSK just after adjourning Friday’s meeting. “Having tough discussions with staff, and at the assembly-level, to see how we can either raise more revenue without being burdensome to the taxpayers, also find reductions in services that this community can tolerate — I don’t even like talking about reductions in services, but I know those discussions are going to be on the table.”
Prior coverage of Petersburg’s 2026 municipal election can be found on KFSK’s Voter Guide.
