Gerrymandering In Alaska

The way Alaska draws its congressional districts is criticized by those out of the process, defended by those who implement it.

Tools

By Matt Felling

Story Created: Mar 1, 2011 at 5:41 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Mar 3, 2011 at 12:29 PM AKDT

Gerrymandering. How Alaska creates district boundaries can tilt the balance towards one party or one candidate.  Examples are legion for House of Representative districts nationwide. But how does it play out in Alaska, with one DC seat but 60 Alaska House and Senate districts?

"Right now the way the commission is established, it's always going to be a partisan commission," says former redistricting commissioner Godon Harrison. "So you're going to get a partisan plan instead of a non-partisan plan."

"Right now it's a predominantly Republican legislature with a Republican governor so they have no interest at all in changing it. It's a good government reform that's not going anywhere."

Harry Crawford was a state legislator for years in Anchorage, and says he saw the districting process change Alaska's political math. "In the 90s, we went from a House that was 22 Democrats and 18 Republicans to one that was 28 Republicans to 12 Democrats over night."

Alaska hands the redistricting process to a five person commission. 2 appointed by the Governor, 1 each by the House and Senate - and a 5th member added by the Alaska Supreme Court.

John Torgerson is the current redistricting chair, and is ramping up the procedures for the upcoming months.  He downplays the politicization , saying that it comes with the territory.

"Ten years ago it was 3 Democrats and 2 republicans. It's the nature of the beast. There are 4 or 5 people on the board, and four are republicans -- I honestly don't know what the fifth member is."

Harrison's experience with redistricting 10 years ago inspired him to write a legal essay, pushing the case that redistricting should be the duty of the legislature.  But Torgerson says that the legislature is busy enough during its 90-day session. "I can't visualize our legislature, they're working on ACES and they're working on oil and gas taxes, which are some of the most important things in this state -  then worrying about where they're going to draw boundaries, too."

Crawford's vantage point as a former legislator makes him see the game as high-stakes political hardball. "We have if not the most partisan process, it's among the most partisan processes in the states here in Alaska."

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KTVA CBS 11 | Anchorage, Alaska News and Weather and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.