Alaska redistribution advice pairs draw criticism

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A divided Alaska constituency council voted on Tuesday on House district twinnings for Senate seats for the Anchorage area that one member said would leave the council open to ” an unfortunate and very easily winnable argument for partisan gerrymandering “.

Board member Nicole Borromeo said she opposed associating part of the Anchorage area in Muldoon with a district of Eagle River on these grounds.

She asked the five-member council to reconsider its 3-2 vote to finalize Senate twins for the Anchorage area, which included plans to split the conservative Eagle River region into two Senate seats. The board voted 3-2 against the reconsideration.

The board on Tuesday night released a revised map that board staff said included amended numbers for House districts.

The council is charged with rewriting Alaska’s political boundaries following the U.S. census, conducted every 10 years. The council aims to complete its work by Wednesday. The overall plan, once finalized, can be challenged in court.

Tuesday’s actions followed sharp trading on proposed maps for the area on Monday and extended executive sessions.

Board member Melanie Bahnke had proposed twinning two districts in the Eagle River area to form a Senate seat and twinning two house districts that make up the Muldoon area for a Senate seat. Member Bethany Marcum proposed to twin a district of Eagle River House with a district of Anchorage which includes a military base and another district of Eagle River with one of the districts of Muldoon.

Marcum had argued that there were strong links between the base and Eagle River and socio-economic links between Muldoon and Eagle River.

Members Budd Simpson and John Binkley voted with Marcum on Tuesday. Marcum and Simpson were appointed to the board last year by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy; Binkley was appointed by then Senate Speaker Cathy Giessel, a Republican.

Borromeo was appointed by then-Speaker Bryce Edgmon, an independent, and Bahnke by Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Joel Bolger.

Borromeo said on Tuesday that she did not believe the arguments made by Marcum and “the sound legal advice we received from the lawyer at the executive session support this twinning” of the Muldoon area and the Eagle Districts. River.

“It defies logic that we appeal to a minority in South Muldoon and pair it with a very white neighborhood 8 miles away on a highway that crosses a mountain range and wait for the court to believe it.” satisfaction that we have satisfied the public trust. in the process, ”she said.

Binkley then warned Borromeo against Marcum’s attack as Borromeo looked to continue what she was saying.

“Be careful, please,” Binkley told Borromeo during a tense exchange.

“I’m careful, and you know what?” She should have been careful when she exposed this advice to liability yesterday, ”Borromeo said.

Marcum did not get involved in the discussion, which took place as the council met in Anchorage.

Bahnke, in his remarks, described what happened as a surprise. “I thought we had reached a consensus. I will accept the result, for now, ”she said.

She said the twinning arrangements she had proposed “removed questions about diluting the ability of minority voters to elect someone to power.” She said the council’s actions would stifle the voices of voters in the Muldoon area, which she described as racially diverse.

Eagle River currently has a senator, Republican Lora Reinbold.

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This story has been corrected to remove a reference to “muzzling” and paraphrase a quote from Melanie Bahnke.

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