Redistricting plans add House seat

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 envisions adding a new House district, to give the Valley into six house districts. Two of those districts — just as they have been for the past 10 years — are shared districts. Butte and now also part of Fairview, will continue to share a representative with Chugiak. Sutton/Chickaloon will likewise continue to share a district with Delta Junction.

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 Wasilla 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. State Sen. Linda Menard currently represents both Wasilla and Palmer, but if this map goes through, her district will include Palmer and that large district from Meadow Lakes to Talkeetna.

The new 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.

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 that the state undergoes every 10 years when the U.S. Census comes out and it has never been completed in Alaska without lawsuits before the Alaska Supreme Court, which then redraws the lines.

This go-round, the Valley had changes on the horizon from the get-go. Mat-Su’s population count double since the last count in 2000. 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 reside.