Two University alumni are seeking election to the Alaska State Senate from Anchorage.
Felix Rivera, ’11, announced his campaign Aug. 1 as a Democrat from District M. He will oppose Sen. Kevin Meyer, a Republican seeking his second four-year term.
About 25,000 voters live in the mid-Hillside district, which takes in Abbott Loop Road.
While several APU alumni have been elected to public office over the years, the Senate M race is the first in recent memory – and perhaps ever – in which two University grads have contested the same seat.
Rivera, 24, and Meyer, 57, exemplify community-minded leadership that APU seeks to instill in every graduate, President Don Bantz said.
“I wish both candidtes well,” Bantz said. “What I hope impresses voters is the way an intentionally small, private, liberal arts school right here in Anchorage consistently generates leaders, new or incumbent, who are willing to serve Alaska.”
Rivera, a former APU student government president and campus newspaper editor, is an Anchorage-based consultant on electoral and issues-based campaigns. He turns 25 on June 7, in time to meet minimum age requirements for state senators.
Meyer earned an MBA from the University in 1992. He is co-chair of the state Senate Finance Committee. A facilities support coordinator for ConocoPhillips, Meyer has worked for the company or Atlantic Richfield, whose Alaska assets were acquired by Conoco, since 1983.
Primary challengers are unlikely, observers say. The Alaska general election is Oct. 1, 2014.