After a prolonged and tumultuous process, the Alaska Redistricting Board finally approved new legislative districts on July 14th. The current legislative map under which the 2012 elections were held had been thrown out by the Alaska Supreme Court on the grounds that they were in violation of the Alaska Constitution. The Board was ordered to redraw the districts which resulted in the new plan adopted Sunday. According the Board’s attorney, the adopted plan will be submitted to the Alaska Supreme Court for its approval no later than Thursday, July 18th. If the new plan is approved by the Court and barring any successful legal challenges, the new districts will be in effect for the 2014 election.
Currently, I represent Senate District Q which encompasses 27 communities throughout the vast majority of Southeast. Under the adopted plan, Senate District Q will become Senate District R and will include the communities of Petersburg, Kupreanof, and Tenakee Springs. Haines and Klukwan will no longer be in my Senate district and instead will be paired with Skagway, Juneau and Gustavus in the new Senate District Q (currently Senate District P represented by Senator Egan). I had the pleasure of representing Petersburg and Kupreanof in the State Senate from 2003 until the 2012 election. My family has always had close ties to Petersburg and Kupreanof and I welcome these communities back. I also look forward to getting to know the residents of Tenakee Springs.
For the remainder of the 28th Legislature which includes the upcoming legislative session that convenes in January of 2014, I will continue to represent the residents of the existing Senate District Q including Haines and Klukwan. I will officially represent the new Senate District R when the 29th Legislature begins in January of 2015. I am not up for reelection in 2014 since I was elected to a four year term in 2012 and the population difference between Senate Districts Q and R is only 9.3%. There must be at least a 25% difference in constituency between the two districts in order to require a Senate term to be truncated. Because of truncation, in 2014 an election will be held in 14 of the 20 new Senate districts.
For more information regarding the Board’s adopted plan, including maps, Senate terms and a list of communities in each district, visit this website: http://www.akredistricting.org/2013proclamation.html
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