HEA 2025 Election Results

Published July 7, 2025

By Brian Kassof

The results of Homer Electric Association’s (HEA) 2025 board election were announced on May 1 at the cooperative’s Annual Meeting. Incumbent directors won reelection in all three of HEA’s electoral districts—Wayne Ogle in District 1, Dan Furlong in District 2, and Erin McKittrick in District 3.

A total of 3,789 members voted in the election. This represented 14.6% of HEA’s 25,945 eligible members. This is down from 2024, when 4,242 members (16.5%) voted, and lower than the 16% average turnout in recent years. 3,659 members voted online, 93 by mail, and 37 in person at the Annual Meeting.

A New Voting System and Downturn in Voting

This year’s lower turnout may be connected to a change in voting methods. Previously, all members were automatically mailed a paper ballot, with the option of voting in person at the annual meeting. In 2023, HEA introduced online voting. Although this option was popular, the majority of members (51.8% in 2023 and 56.7% in 2024) still voted by mail.

Starting this year, HEA shifted to a primarily online voting system. Members were automatically emailed links for online voting; if they wanted to vote by mail, they needed to request a paper ballot be mailed to them. Members were also able to vote at the Annual Meeting (a 2023 bylaw change gave the HEA Board the ability to discontinue in-person voting at the annual meeting, but they have continued to provide that option). According to HEA’s Election page, HEA stopped automatically mailing paper ballots because the local companies that had provided these services no longer offer them and the cooperative was not able to find a local replacement. There was concern about cost and timing if HEA used an outside vendor to produce and mass mail ballots, so they instead made the shift to a primarily online election.

HEA is not the only Railbelt cooperative to move to such a system in recent years. CEA has used this method since 2017 (for this election HEA used the same Minnesota-based election vendor (Survey & Ballot Systems) as CEA). The Board at a third Railbelt utility, Matanuska Electric Association (MEA), voted in February to move to a primarily online voting system starting in 2026.

While this year’s lower turnout may have been the result of multiple factors, there is at least anecdotal evidence that the change in voting procedure played some role. On April 13, Erin McKittrick (the District 3 incumbent running for reelection) provided detailed instructions on how to vote in a Facebook post, saying that she had spoken with a number of people who were confused about voting procedures, including some who had still expected that a mail-in ballot would automatically be sent to them. In mid-April, Cook Inletkeeper reported that it was hearing from HEA members about election emails getting caught in spam filters or otherwise being missed. Two members also spoke at the HEA Annual Meeting on May 1 about challenges they or people they knew had faced in voting under the new system, citing a lack of internet access as a particular problem.

According to the HEA Election page, the cooperative took a number of steps to smooth the transition. The initial email with voting information and the needed credentials was sent on March 28. Members who had not voted were then sent periodic email reminders with their election credentials (a total of 5 reminders were sent between April 8 and 28). For members who did not have an email address on file (or for whom the initial email was returned as undeliverable), HEA sent a paper letter with online voting credentials and instructions for voting. Because the election administrator was located out of state, HEA advised members wishing to vote by mail to request a paper ballot by April 18—after that date there would not be adequate time for ballots to be mailed to members and then returned to the election administrator before voting closed.

Election Results:

In District One, incumbent Wayne Ogle won a closely contested race, defeating challenger Patrick Parker by only 17 votes (487 to 470). Now retired, Ogle served in the US Coast Guard and worked in the oil industry. He has also served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly. This will be Ogle’s second term on the HEA Board.

Wayne Ogle, from his candidate profile

In District Two, current Board President Dan Furlong was reelected. Furlong received 629 votes (57.9%) to challenger Mitch Michaud’s 438 (40.3%). This will be Furlong’s third consecutive term on the HEA Board. Since HEA’s Bylaws limit board members to serving no more than three consecutive terms, Furlong will not be able to run for reelection in 2028.

Dan Furlong, from his candidate profile

In District Three, incumbent Erin McKittrick defeated challengers Matthew Bullard and Rick Eckert. McKittrick received 1131 (65.2%) votes, Bullard 322 (18.6%), and Eckert 274 (15.8%). McKittrick, who is a scientific writer and editor, will also be serving her third consecutive term, making her ineligible to run for reelection in 2028.

Erin McKittrick, from her candidate profile