The Q&As with 2026 candidates for Palmer, Wasilla and Houston City Councils
Mat-Su Sentinel's nonpartian election guides are built using topics and questions submitted by voters.
Over the past few months, voters in Palmer, Wasilla and Houston sent us their top questions for this year’s city council candidates.
We compiled the most frequently asked questions and the hottest local issues into a survey and contacted each candidate to get their input.
All candidates responded to the questionnaire.
About the Mat-Su Sentinel voter guide
What you see in this voter guide is exactly what each candidate submitted. We did not provide any edits or make changes of any kind.
Questions and topics were submitted by voters through a Mat-Su Sentinel form. Questions were selected based on the number of submissions received on each issue and whether the topic is pertinent to the seat in question. For example, the guides do not ask candidates about national or state-level issues that fall outside the control or influence of local government.
Submitted photos were cropped or adjusted to display correctly on your screen. Candidates were prohibited from submitting profile photos that were substantially edited with or created using AI.
A Mat-Su Sentinel forum with Wasilla city candidates is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Menard Center in Wasilla. A candidate forum hosted by the Palmer Rotary for Palmer city candidates and Palmer-area Mat-Su Borough Assembly candidates is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 21. No candidate forum is scheduled for Houston this year because of scheduling conflicts with one of the three candidates.
2026 Palmer, Wasilla and Houston City Councils voter guides
Don't know where to vote? Here's what you need to know.
Registered city voters can vote early at Houston, Wasilla and Palmer city halls starting Sept. 22. Election Day is Oct. 6.
All City of Houston voters cast their ballots at City Hall, the city’s only designated polling place.
Voters in the City of Wasilla are divided into two precincts based on address. Wasilla No. 1, or 27-420 for borough, state and federal elections, is located at Wasilla City Hall. Wasilla No. 2, or 27-425 for borough, state and federal elections, is located at the Menard Center. Check the city’s precinct maps to find out which polling place you should visit.
Voters in the City of Palmer are also divided into two precincts based on address. Precinct 25-320 is located in the Borough Administration Building. Precinct 25-325 is located at the Borough School Administration Building. View the city’s precinct map to determine which polling place you should visit.
How to run as a write-in candidate in a Mat-Su city election
A write-in candidate is just what it sounds like: a candidate whose name is handwritten by a voter on the ballot. But in most municipalities, including Houston, Wasilla and Palmer, the rules don’t allow just any resident to be officially tallied as a write-in candidate. Instead, would-be write-in candidates must still meet certain local requirements and register with the city clerk, just like listed candidates.
Here’s what you need to know about running as a write-in candidate in 2026.
Can you vote in city elections?
Only a small fraction of the cities’ residents vote each year. Could that be because many Mat-Su residents don’t know whether they live within city limits? Here’s how to find out if you’re eligible to vote in one of Mat-Su’s three municipal elections, which this year will be held Oct. 6.