The Alaska Redistricting Board has adopted a new map of legislative districts for the state, keeping Wrangell and Ketchikan in the same district.
The board had considered other proposals that would have put Wrangell in with Sitka, not Ketchikan, along with Petersburg and other small Southeast communities, or moved Petersburg in with Ketchikan and Wrangell.
Wrangell and Ketchikan currently share a state House district. The only change from the current boundaries for that seat is the addition of Metlakatla, to get the district closer to the population goal equal to the other 39 state House seats in Alaska.
States are required to redraw legislative boundaries every 10 years after the U.S. Census.
Redistricting board members traveled to 24 cities around Alaska this fall, including Wrangell, to take public testimony on the options for redrawing boundaries to more closely match the population changes of the past 10 years.
The board approved its final map for House seats on Friday and Senate seats on Monday, though redistricting boundaries have been challenged in court every time since statehood. If lawsuits are resolved in time, the new maps would take effect for the 2022 election.
The district boundaries adopted by the board could influence the political leadership of the Legislature in 2023, depending on how many seats go to Republicans or Democrats in the 2022 election.
As happens when boundaries change, the new maps show six seats where two incumbents would be in the same district, requiring that they run against each other or one drops out or moves to another district. The six districts are in Anchorage, Eagle River and Wasilla, affecting seven incumbent Republicans and five Democrats.
While the Wrangell Borough Assembly supported staying in the same district with Ketchikan, the Petersburg Borough Assembly went on record Nov. 1 in support of a proposed map that would have put Petersburg, Wrangell, Kake, Sitka, Thorne Bay and Yakutat in one district, with Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island communities in a separate district.
The map adopted by the state board puts Petersburg in with Sitka, Prince of Wales Island, Kake, Hoonah, Angoon, and reaching north to include Yakutat to get closer to the population goal of about 18,300 residents in each district.
Juneau will continue to be split into two House seats, with the northern part of the community sharing a district with Gustavus, Haines, Skagway and Klukwan.
Wrangell and Ketchikan currently are represented in the state House by Rep. Dan Ortiz, of Ketchikan, who has served since 2015. The communities share a state Senate district with Sitka, represented by Sen. Bert Stedman, who has been in the Legislature since 2003.
All 40 House seats will be on the 2022 ballot, as will most of the 20 Senate seats, though probably not Stedman’s district, which has not changed much since 2020 when he was elected to a four-year term.
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