Though there are still nearly 10 months before Kenai Peninsula Borough residents will pick a new borough mayor, two people have already announced they are running.

Sterling resident Charlie Pierce filed a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission in mid-October, approximately a year ahead of the election. A little less than a month later, Soldotna resident Linda Hutchings submitted her own letter of intent for the office. The position will be up for grabs when current Mayor Mike Navarre is termed out in October.

Pierce, a career Enstar Natural Gas Co. worker who served on the borough assembly for two terms from 2008–2014, said he is running because he wants to preserve the quality of life on the peninsula. He moved to the Kenai Peninsula in 1990 and managed the Enstar office in Soldotna until last year, when he retired.

Hutchings is a longtime businessperson in the community and chairs Soldotna’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. She worked for 35 years as the CFO of Hutchings Auto Group, a car dealership she and her husband own, and has also served on a variety of governmental boards, including the borough’s various iterations of a health care task force and the state’s Workers Compensation Board.