The Alaska Redistricting Board finalized and adopted the map Wednesday. The new district is largely the same but does have some small changes.
Communities in the Dillingham area, the Bristol Bay Borough and Lake and Peninsula Borough will remain in District 37-S. It is currently represented by state House Representative Bryce Edgmon and Senator Lyman Hoffman.
The new map comes with some slight changes. Platinum and Goodnews Bay will now be represented in House District 37. They were previously in District 38, which includes Bethel. Other communities making that change are Aniak, Tyonek, Upper and Lower Kalskag, and Chuathbaluk.
The communities of Nanwalek and and Port Graham also join the district. They were formally represented in District 32-P.
The board also followed up on its proposal to move the communities of McGrath, Takotna, Nikolai and other Upper Kuskokwim villages into a different legislative district. They’re now in District 36-R.
At a meeting in October, Bristol Bay residents met with redistricting board members in Dillingham. Residents agreed that Bristol Bay’s communities should be represented in the same district along with the coastal communities in the Aleutian Chain.
A proposed map by the Alaskans for Fair Redistricting would have moved the Lake and Pen Borough communities into a new district with Kodiak and Cordova. That proposal was not considered by the board in the final map.
The board has five members who are appointed by the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker and Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. It redraws districts every 10 years based on population data in the Census.
While drawing the districts, board member Nicole Borromeo said they looked at boundaries in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and tried to keep Alaska Native communities within the same district as their respective hub communities.
Contact the author at tyler@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200
