MAT-SU -- June 1 marks the last day for candidates to file for one of the many seats up for grabs in the upcoming fall election and, as of Wednesday, one Mat-Su seat lay vacant.

According to the state's Division of Elections, 11 candidates had filed from the Valley, representing several races across the state. Due to the recently adopted redistricting plan, all 40 House seats are up for grabs this year, and 17 of the 20 Senate seats are on the block as well.

The Alaska Redistricting Board, in its proclamation of redistricting, stated that three incumbents in Senate districts A, K and the new district T, do not need to run in the election because their districts had not significantly changed. Through the redistricting effort, Mat-Su gained a fourth House seat and shares a small portion of a fifth, and Valley Senate representation is split across three Senate positions.

Eleven Valley residents have been certified as candidates in the primary election, covering 10 seats. Two of those candidates are hoping to represent all of Alaska, while the remaining nine seek local seats.

Mike Aubrey, a Republican from Sutton, filed for the U.S. Senate seat. Aubrey is the sole Republican in the running for the seat vacated by Sen. Ted Stevens, who has not yet filed for candidacy. Homer Democrat Frank Vondersaar and Anchorage Libertarian Leonard Karpinski are also in the running to fill that vacancy.

Current Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin filed for lieutenant governor, one of four Republicans in the running for the seat. Palin will face off in the primary against former Homer senator Gail Phillips, Anchorage senator Loren Leman and Wrangell senator Robin Taylor. Diane Benson, a Green party candidate from Eagle River, Al Anders, a Libertarian candidate from Anchorage, and Daniel DeNardo, an Alaskan Independence candidate from Anchorage, are also in the running for the seat.

In the newly created Senate District F, Trac Copher of Sutton, an Alaskan Independence party candidate, will face off against North Pole Republican senator Gene Thierrault. The new district covers the area north of Palmer Fishhook Road, including a portion of the Hatcher Pass area, extends up to the lower Fairbanks area and reaches down to Glennallen, Copper Center and Valdez.

Sen. Lyda Green, a Mat-Su Republican, is currently running unopposed for the Senate District G, a seat that includes the two districts that cover Palmer, Wasilla and much of the core area.

Rep. Scott Ogan, a Palmer Republican, is running against Republican Jerry Sanders, a former Anchorage representative, to fill Senate District H. That seat covers the Lazy Mountain, Butte, Chugiak and Peters Creek area, as well as the Meadow Lakes, Houston, Willow and north Parks Highway portion of the borough.

No Valley residents have filed for House District 12, which includes the area along the Glenn Highway from Palmer Fishhook Road to Glennallen, north to include much of the Denali Highway and south to Valdez. As of Wednesday, Rep. John Harris, a Valdez Republican, was the sole candidate for the seat.

The newly created House District 13 has attracted a significant amount of attention from Valley political aspirants. Five candidates have filed for the new Mat-Su seat, which covers the city of Palmer, Hatcher Pass, and splits the core area between Seward Meridian Parkway and Trunk Road. As of Wednesday, Nancy Campbell, longtime legislative aide Randy Lorenz, former Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Jim Turner and school board member Carl Gatto have all filed on the Republican ticket to fill the seat. Assembly member Jim Colver filed on the Independent ticket for the seat.

The race for the Wasilla seat, House District 14, is much less crowded. As of Wednesday, no candidates had been certified for the seat -- including incumbent Republican Vic Kohring. When asked throughout the recent legislative session whether he planned to file, Kohring said he was still weighing his options.

If no one files for the seat before the June 1 deadline, Division of Elections spokeswoman Virginia Breeze said there's still hope the seat will be filled.

"There's always the write-in process," Breeze said, "but the write-in process is only available for the general election in November."

Breeze added that a write-in candidate, in order to be considered a candidate, needs the signatures of either one percent of its voting populace or of 50 voters. This year, because the districts are still up in the air and will likely not be confirmed until after June 1, only 50 signatures are needed.

Republican and former assembly member Doyle Holmes threw his hat in the ring for House District 15, covering the Valley from Meadow Lakes north. Holmes was running unopposed as of Wednesday.

Longtime aide to Sen. Rick Halford, Bill Stoltze of Chugiak is running on the Republican ticket for House District 16, which covers Lazy Mountain, the Butte, Knik River, Chugiak and Peters Creek. Stoltze was also running unopposed as of Wednesday.

Britten said the office will be open Saturday to accommodate last-minute filers. And, according to Carol Thompson, the Southcentral region elections supervisor, Saturday will likely be busy.

"To me, it always feels really busy," Thompson said. "It starts building up in May. I don't know if there's a rhyme or reason, but it does get busy -- we've always got that rush."