With the House district maps all but set for the Mat-Su Valley, there is an open seat, and Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Jesse Sumner and Stephen Wright have already filed letters of intent to run. Both are Republicans.
When Wasilla Republicans Rep. David Eastman and Rep. Christopher Kurka were put into the same district, it put Eastman’s old district — 10 — renumbered to become District 26, without an incumbent lawmaker.
Wright said he moved back to Banner Way in January of 2021 and had previously lived in Meadow Lakes for three years. Wright has run for office since 2016, when he ran for Congress against Congressman Don Young. He ran for lieutenant governor in 2018, and State Senate in 2020 against Sen. David Wilson.
Sumner ran for office for the first time when he challenged Rep. David Eastman in the 2020 primary for District 10. He got 1,420 votes, while Eastman won reelection with 1,589. He has not indicated which seat he will run for — House or Senate.
The House District 26 seat was created through redistricting, a process that takes place every 10 years after the U.S. Census.
The new district 26 they are lucky to have such 4 strong minded Republican leaders. I am sure there are more of the same in the area district, while there are neglected blue districts needing strong Republicans to move into that neighborhood and build a new base out of the neglected or disgruntled existing neighbors to give a challenge the Democrat old base. Every blue neighborhood should have a good size of a pack of elephant minded Republicans residing tightly close together in the district where Democrats can’t sway and can’t woo and constantly feel challenged. Instead of Republicans constantly challenging one another.
Democrats are just as vulnerable as Republicans when they get comfortable with dominating the power and control. Political parties dominating too much power over an area like Anchorage, and it’s easy to neglect and take for granted your district neighbors. There makes the possibility of a new group moving into a neighborhood and infiltrating it by building neighborhood relationships/close friendships with neighbors who arent entrenched in Democrat ideology.
This why I don’t like hearing Republican leaning neighbors threatening they will run away from Anchorage because of the work is getting too hard. The herd hasn’t worked hard enough and that’s why neighborhoods have shifted to blue. I see a lot of forgotten neighbors within blue districts floundering and lost and they are looking for a strong leader to give them purpose. Their district current Democrat elect don’t care about them and their neighborhood wrong thinking what’s the use of them they are non voters, there are too many tenants reside in that area, they are dirt poor. No use for democrat candidates.
I would definitely vote for Jesse Sumner. He’s every bit as conservative as David Eastman but my major complaint against Eastman is that despite voting the right way, he just isn’t good at passing actual legislation. Jesse Sumner is conservative, but also realistic. That’s something that’s so desperately needed in the legislature these days.
Jeff Blackmore, you just might be right!
Is there a map of the redistributing in the Matsu valley thar can be posted? And, what will happen now if Eastman and Kurka are in the same district?
They will run off in the primary but since Kurka was groomed by Eastman to run for the open seat before I think Kurka wont run against his master and will not seek the new seat.
Elizabeth, just as a point of clarification, there is no such place as “the Mat-Su Valley”. Because there is no such thing as the “Mat-Su River”. There is the Matanuska Valley, and the Susitna Valley, and they are two separate geographical entities. So anyone who talks about “The Valley” is being lazy as well as ignorant.
RE my last comment – question. Answer to my own question.
Here is link to the 2021 map. “https://www.akredistrict.org/map-gallery/web/final-redistricting-map.html”
From the looks of the new map, I’ve been cut out of the current District 11 and put in the new District 27. And I don’t see the Senate Districts yet.
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