Alaska

State Redistricting Info Alaska

Alaska 2023 Proclamation Districts

2023 Alaska House (and Senate) Districts

Open map as PDF: Statewide - Anchorage Area

2023 Alaska House (and Senate) Districts - Anchorage Area

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Overview of 2020 Redistricting

Alaska’s post-2020 congressional redistricting process required little formal action due to the state’s at-large U.S. House district. Because the state is entitled to only one congressional seat, no redistricting was necessary following the 2020 Census.

In contrast, the state legislative redistricting process proved highly contentious. The Alaska Redistricting Board adopted new House and Senate maps in November 2021, but five separate lawsuits quickly challenged various aspects of the plan, including district boundaries affecting the Mat-Su Valley, Valdez, Skagway, and Anchorage. After a series of Superior Court and Alaska Supreme Court rulings, multiple districts were struck down, including a Senate pairing that the courts found to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The Board adopted a revised map in April 2022, but courts again intervened, ultimately imposing an interim plan for the 2022 elections. In 2023, the Board formally adopted the court-imposed configuration as the final map for the decade, concluding Alaska’s extended redistricting cycle.

last updated: Jan 2026

2020 Timeline: Legislative Maps

Aug 6 2020	The five-member Alaska Redistricting Board (an independent commission) was fully appointed (four members named in late July 2020 and a fifth selected by the Chief Justice on Aug. 6) in preparation for post-2020 redistricting.
Sep 9 2021	The Board released its first draft maps for the legislature (Board Composite Plan v.1 and v.2) for public consideration.
Sept 20 2021	After public input, the Board replaced its initial drafts with Proposed Plan v.3 and v.4 and additionally adopted four third-party map proposals as alternatives for review.
Nov 10 2021	The Alaska Redistricting Board adopted a Final Proclamation of Redistricting, enacting new state legislative district boundaries for the next decade. The plan passed on a 3-2 vote of the commission’s members. This adoption started a 30-day window for legal challenges.
Dec 2 2021	House Map Lawsuit: The Matanuska-Susitna Borough filed a lawsuit ( Matanuska-Susitna Borough v. Alaska Redistricting Board ) in Alaska’s Third Judicial District, alleging the new state House map malapportioned Mat-Su voters by overpopulating its districts, thus diluting their votes. The borough asked the court to declare the House map void and compel a redraw.
Dec 9 2021	Senate Map Lawsuit: A group of Anchorage-area voters (Felisa Wilson et al.) filed Wilson v. Alaska Redistricting Board in the Third Judicial District, claiming the Board’s pairing of certain Anchorage communities into a state Senate district violated the Alaska Constitution. The plaintiffs alleged the Board’s plan ignored local socio-economic ties in the Anchorage/Eagle River area and sought to block the Senate map until a lawful plan was adopted.
Dec 10 2021	Three more lawsuits were filed: the City of Valdez (Valdez v. Alaska Redistricting Board, in the Third Judicial District) challenged the Board’s procedure (open meetings) and the inclusion of Valdez with the Mat-Su region; the City of Skagway (Skagway v. Alaska Redistricting Board, in the First Judicial District) alleged the plan violated open meetings law and failed to respect Skagway’s community of interest; and the Calista Corporation (an Alaska Native regional corporation) (Calista Corp. v. Alaska Redistricting Board, Fourth Judicial District) contended that the new districts unlawfully diluted Native voting strength. Each suit sought to block the maps and require a remedial plan.
Dec 14 2021	The presiding Judge for the First Judicial District issued an order consolidating all five lawsuits and transferred the case to Anchorage (Third Judicial District) for trial.
Feb 15 2022	After a fast-track trial, the Alaska Superior Court ruled on the consolidated cases. The court upheld most of the Board’s legislative plan but found that one House district and one Senate pairing were unconstitutional. In particular, the court held that pairing East Anchorage with Eagle River (Senate District K in the plan) constituted an unconstitutional political gerrymander that violated the state's Equal Protection Clause. The court also found the configuration of House District 36 (the “Cantwell appendage” in an Interior district) lacked adequate justification for its non-compact shape. The judge ordered the Redistricting Board to redraw the invalid House district and Anchorage-area Senate district before the next election.
Mar 25 2022	The Alaska Supreme Court issued a summary decision on the expedited appeal, affirming in part and reversing in part the lower court. The high court agreed that the Board’s new Anchorage Senate District K was an intentional partisan gerrymander and must be redrawn. The Supreme Court also concluded that House District 36 was unconstitutional for its irregular, non-compact boundaries, thereby overturning the trial court’s approval of the district. (The Court differed with the trial court on a few other points, but those did not require additional map changes.) It remanded the case to the Board to implement a compliant House and Senate district configuration.
Apr 13 2022	The Redistricting Board adopted an Amended Proclamation Plan (revised legislative map) to comply with the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling. This revised map redrew House District 36 and adjusted the Anchorage-area Senate pairings as directed.
May 16 2022	Despite the Board’s revisions, a group of plaintiffs (including some from the original cases and new intervenors from the Girdwood area) objected to the new Anchorage Senate pairings. The Alaska Superior Court (Third Judicial District) agreed and held that the Board’s April plan “again engaged in unconstitutional political gerrymandering,” this time by splitting an Anchorage suburb to favor one group. The judge ruled the revised Senate map still violated the Alaska Constitution and ordered the adoption of an alternate Senate pairing plan (known as “Option 2”) as an interim map for the 2022 elections, and he remanded the matter to the Board to adopt a permanent remedial plan for the remainder of the decade.
May 24 2022	The Alaska Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Superior Court’s May 16 findings. In an order that day, the high court affirmed that the Board’s April 2022 Senate pairings were an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. It approved the lower court’s imposed interim Senate map for use in the 2022 legislative elections. However, the Supreme Court placed a hold on the requirement for an additional immediate redraw after 2022, indicating it would review the matter in full before the next election. (This allowed the 2022 elections to proceed under the court-ordered interim plan, with any long-term fix to be decided after additional review.)
April 21 2023	The Alaska Supreme Court issued its full opinion in In re 2021 Redistricting Cases, elaborating on its 2022 orders. The court explicitly declared that partisan gerrymandering violates the Alaska Constitution, and it confirmed that splitting the Eagle River area into two Senate districts (as in the struck-down plan) was unconstitutional. The court remanded to the Superior Court with instructions to give the Redistricting Board 90 days to show cause why the interim plan should not be adopted as the final plan for the remainder of the decade.
May 15 2023	Facing the court’s order, the Alaska Redistricting Board held a public meeting and formally adopted the 2022 interim legislative maps as its Final Proclamation Plan for the decade. The interim plan originally imposed by the court thus became the permanent state House and Senate district map to be used through 2030. This action concluded the post-2020 redistricting cycle in Alaska.

Who is Responsible for Redistricting in Alaska?

Alaska has only one congressional district. The Alaska Redistricting Board is responsible for redrawing legislative lines. The board is a five-member body appointed by the governor (2), the House speaker (1), the president (1), and the chief justice of the state supreme court (1). The Alaska Constitution requires at least one redistricting board member from each of the state's four judicial districts.

Deadline for Redistricting

Population and Number of Representatives

State Redistricting Website(s)