At the end of the Anchorage Redistricting Committee on Wednesday, someone in the room uttered the word “slut.”
There was a murmur of laughter from Assemblywoman Austin Quinn-Davidson, who turned to the apparent source of the whispered word — Redistricting Committee Chairman Chris Constant.
Constant neither admits or denies saying it, but only responded to Must Read Alaska’s question with this phrase: “You should see an audiologist.”
He also wrote, “Thank you for all the coverage. It’s been really valuable. I couldn’t pay for this kind of media. I don’t think anybody could argue with the prolific volume of your work product.”
The “slut” incident came after a testy exchange with Allard, who was trying to advance her version of a redistricting map for Anchorage, but she had missed Constant’s Friday deadline. Her map was evidently submitted to him on Monday. So was Assemblyman John Weddleton’s map version, which Constant accepted.
After the exchange, in which Constant interrupted her while she was speaking and reacted to her comments with agitation, he announced that because she had impugned his motives, he would change his vote to be against accepting her map.
Constant was visibly angry, while Allard stated her case. She had called into the meeting from a trip out of state that she had scheduled weeks ago.
There are many other maps already under consideration in drawing new lines for Assembly seats, some of them offered by left-wing political action groups.
Constant has, in the past, used derogatory words toward women. Several years ago, Constant called the publisher of Must Read Alaska a “cunt” on social media; he later apologized.
Watch the tape here and listen to the audio, which we have slowed down at the end to better illustrate what was said:
Assemblyman John Weddleton said he did not hear the comment. Allard did not hear it, but also has a hearing impairment and was on the phone.
Other than Allard, Weddleton and Constant, other Assembly members did not yet respond to a question posed by Must Read Alaska.
Last week, Constant appeared on a leftist podcast, calling Mayor Dave Bronson a clown and his team “fools,” who are not smart enough to know how to gaslight the Assembly.
Update: Assemblywoman Austin Quinn-Davidson, who had encouraged Constant to not allow Allard’s map, has responded to our question, saying: “That is absolutely false, like most things you print. I recommend you listen again.”
Assemblywoman Crystal Kennedy has responded: “I did not hear that but both of them were talking over each other so I’m not exactly sure what was said.”
