The Anchorage Reapportionment Committee has made five draft Assembly maps available for the public to see and comment on. Reapportionment is the process of redrawing Anchorage’s six Assembly districts. The addition of a 12th Assembly seat passed by voters has triggered the city’s charter, mandating all districts be reapportioned. Read about the process in-depth here.
The Committee, made up of Christopher Constant (Downtown), Pete Peterson (East), Crystal Kennedy (Eagle River-Chugiak), and Austin Quinn-Davidson (West), published five proposals available on the reapportionment website. The first map was drawn by Constant, while the remaining four were drafted by Resource Data Inc., the contractor providing GIS and redistricting services to the city during this process.
As a note, new districts must be as close to 48,541 people as possible. The addition of a 12th assembly member will cause Downtown, the single-member district that is half the size of its neighbors, to balloon in coverage.
Here are the draft maps, which you can view by clicking each Draft layer one-by-one. You can also see what the current districts look like, and lay it over a new map to see what changes have been made. Every single district is numbered 1-6 to correspond with the Downtown (1), Eagle River-Chugiak (2), West (3), Midtown (4), East (5), and South (6) areas of Anchorage.
Map 1
- Downtown takes in JBER-Elmendorf and Airport Heights
- Eagle River-Chugiak pulls in Girdwood, Indian, and Bird as well as Goldenview, Rabbit Creek, and Upper de Armoun
- A fresh South district is formed by joining East/Lower Hillside, Bayshore-Klatt, parts of Jewel Lake, and Dimond Estates
- West stays the same except for losing West Dimond’s neighborhoods north of Campbell Lake
- The map pairs Assembly members Constant and Dunbar in the same Downtown district
- Downtown goes to Biden by 8 fewer percentage points, while Eagle River goes to Trump by 12 fewer. West gets a 5.5% bump for Biden, and East a 3% bump for Biden.
- Notably, this map doesn’t split any precincts — meaning lines don’t cross natural voting precinct boundaries that have been being used in both muni elections and statewide elections for the last decade. The current Assembly map divides Airport Heights’ most northern precinct in half with north of Debarr’s belonging to Downtown and south belonging to Midtown.
Map 2
- Downtown takes in Airport Heights and South Mountain View, as well as much of the core of Midtown
- East gains the North Muldoon finger, which includes the Tikahtnu Mall that currently belongs to the Eagle River-Chugiak
- Midtown dips below Dimond/Abbott to grab Independence Park and Lower Hillside.
- West stays the same except for losing West Dimond’s neighborhoods north of Campbell Lake
- Pairs Constant, Dunbar, and Zaletel in the same Downtown district; Rivera and Weddleton are in Midtown together
- West, East, and South get 3-4% bumps for Biden while Midtown gets a 2% bump for Trump
Map 3
- Downtown dips below Chester Creek and adds upper Midtown, as well as steals Russian Jack and South Mountain View from Eastside
- East gains the Tikahtnu finger, and now stretches south through Elmore all the way to Hillside.
- Midtown loses Dimond, half of Abbott, and half of Campbell Creek. It also adds Independence Park.
- West stays the same except losing the neighborhoods north of Campbell Lake
- South gains Stuckagain Heights
- Pairs Constant, Dunbar, and Zaletel in Downtown; Rivera and Weddleton are in Midtown together
- West and South get a 4 and 6 point bump for Biden, while Midtown gets slightly more conservative
Map 4
- Downtown takes in JBER to the north, South Mountain View and Russian Jack to the East, and Airport Heights and upper Midtown.
- East loses far Northeast Muldoon to the Eagle River district, South Mountain View and Russian Jack to Downtown, and Stuckagain Heights to South. It now stretches west into U-Med in Midtown and also south into Elmore and a bit of Lower Hillside.
- Midtown pushes west into Arctic and south into Independence Park
- West stays the same except losing the neighborhoods north of Campbell Lake
- Pairs Constant, Dunbar, and Zaletel in Downtown; Rivera and Weddleton in Midtown
- West, East, and South gets a 4-6% bump for Biden while Trump gains 3% in Midtown
Map 5
- Downtown adds South Mountain View and Russian Jack to the East, and Airport Heights and upper Midtown.
- East adds JBER-Elmendorf, U-Med area, and Far North Bicentennial
- Eagle River-Chugiak adds North and South Muldoon
- Midtown adds a large portion of Hillside
- South gains Stuckagain Heights
- West stays the same except losing the neighborhoods north of Campbell Lake
- Pairs Constant, Dunbar, and Zaletel in Downtown; Rivera and Weddleton in Midtown; Petersen with both Eagle River-Chugiak representatives (Allard & Kennedy)
- Eagle River-Chugiak goes to Trump by 10 fewer percentage points while West and South get a 4-5% bump for Biden. Midtown goes to Biden by 4 fewer points.
What happens next?
On January 6th, the Reapportionment Committee will meet to review draft plans and prepare for their Town Halls. They will likely go over a new timeline for finishing the process, as the five maps released are a bit overdue. After the meeting, the next scheduled date is January 10th, which is the last day the public has to submit any map proposals of their own.
The Committee and Resource Data could rework these maps before taking them to town halls where residents can ask questions and voice concerns.
How do I get involved?
You can also attend the two town halls scheduled by the committee.
| Virtual Town Hall | January 26th, 6-8pm | https://bit.ly/ReapportionmentTownHall01262022 |
| In-Person Town Hall | January 27th, 6-8pm | Wilda Marston Theatre, Loussac Library |
You can also attend the next meeting on January 28th on Microsoft Teams.
Public Call In: (907) 519-0237
Conference ID: 964 024 898#
If you’d like to comment on any of the maps, use the portal on the committee website. It’s best to speak to the Assembly’s requirements when creating new districts, including compactness, contiguousness, relative socioeconomic integration, and districts of equal population (Anchorage Charter 4.01).
Though I’ve included it for transparency and research, political data and the placement of Assembly members will almost certainly not be considered persuasive testimony.
Alaska Politics & Elections Blog 