Redistricting board plan has big changes in mind for Mat-Su area

MAT-SU — The Alaska Redistricting Board has released its final plans and, as expected, the map of Valley legislative districts is set to change.

The final map proposes breaking the Valley up into six house districts, one more than the current five.

Two of those districts — just as they have been for the past 10 years — are shared districts. Butte and part of Fairview will continue to share a representative with Chugiak. Sutton/Chickaloon will likewise continue to share a district with Delta Junction and Valdez.

There’s a brand new house district representing the Knik-Fairview area. Wasilla and Palmer have their own districts. The rest of the borough from just west of Wasilla and stretching north to just shy of Cantwell will be the sixth district.

Senate districts in Alaska are made up of two house districts. Those pairings have changed somewhat drastically. The Valley has two senators completely within its borders. Charlie Huggins represents mostly the rural areas — the Meadow Lakes-Talkeetna district and Butte/Chugiak district — and Linda Menard the more urban Palmer and Wasilla areas.

If this plan goes through, those two Senate seats will be half rural and half urban. Menard’s district will include the Palmer House district and that large House district from Meadow Lakes to Talkeetna.

The Knik seat will pair with Wasilla to form the new district currently represented by Sen. Charlie Huggins.

Those shared districts will pair off with other communities. Sutton/Chickaloon/Delta Junction will pair off with a Fairbanks district and Butte/Chugiak with an Anchorage district.

Unlike in other areas of the state, all of the Valley’s incumbents appear to be within their old districts, meaning they can stand for reelection. But, with the possible exception of Carl Gatto of Palmer, the parts of the Valley they would represent will be much different.

Wes Keller, currently representing mostly Wasilla, would have to run to represent a small piece of Wasilla on one side of that big Talkeetna/Meadow Lakes district.

Mark Neuman, who currently represents Talkeetna, will run to represent that Big Lake/Knik district. Bill Stoltze’s Butte/Chugiak district doesn’t go quite as far into the Municipality of Anchorage as it once did.

And Hatcher Pass has been cut off from Gatto’s and Keller’s districts and added to Chickaloon/Valdez and Talkeetna/Meadow Lakes respectively.

The plan as a whole has drawn fire from the Alaska Democratic Party and the group has some things to say specifically about Mat-Su.

By their reckoning, the Valley only has four House members, since their count doesn’t include that Sutton/Chickaloon/Delta Junction/Valdez seat or the Butte/Fairview/Chugiak seat.

Though the board has more or less finished its work, it has a final meeting scheduled for Monday, followed by an “official proclamation of redistricting” on Tuesday. It’s a process the state undergoes every 10 years when the U.S. Census comes out and it has never ended without lawsuits landing it before the Alaska Supreme Court, which then has redrawn the lines.

This go-around, the Valley anticipated changes from the get-go since the borough’s population has doubled in the last 10 years. Representatives here were responsible for much more than the generally accepted number of constituents. It was clear all along that the Valley would get a new representative, but not clear where that seat would be.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.