- Merrill Sanford speaking last week at Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit.
Photo by Ed Schoenfeld.
Former Juneau Assemblyman Merrill Sanford plans to run for mayor.
It’s been widely known that he was considering another run for office. Sanford says he decided to go public after participating in last week’s Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit.
“The City and Borough of Juneau should be one of the leaders in Southeast and stand up and fight for basic infrastructure and jobs,” Sanford says. “So, I kind of got frustrated last week with some of the different organizations that are stalling some of these type of projects throughout all of Southeast, and just finally decided, well, instead of just being frustrated about it, you need to go and try to do something about it.”
He’ll have to wait until August 3rd to officially file. That’s the first day candidates can turn in nominating petitions.
Sanford served nine years on the Assembly, before being term-limited last fall. He was twice elected Deputy Mayor by fellow assembly members.
A retired career firefighter for Capital City Fire and Rescue, Sanford graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School and served in Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corp.
Last year, the Juneau Chamber of Commerce named him Citizen of the Year.
This year’s municipal election will be held October 2nd.
