Rep. Sara Rasmussen is not going to run for reelection, she has told Republicans in her district.
The district she has been placed in through redistricting, now called District 16, puts her and Rep. Matt Claman, a Democrat, inside the same political boundaries. Rasmussen’s previous district was numbered D-22. The new district stretches from Turnagain down to Raspberry Road in Anchorage, leaning just slightly further to the left.
Claman is considering running against Sen. Mia Costello, who is the senator for that district.
Rasmussen came into office in 2018 and was reelected 2020. In 2021 she left the Republican majority and became a “caucus of one” who was an unreliable vote for Republicans and began spending more of there time with Democrats. She would have had an uphill battle in the new district she’s been drawn into by the Alaska Redistricting Board.
“The race is really tough for a Republican, and I just don’t have the energy to put into a campaign after 4 pretty draining years in Juneau. Please let me know how I can help whichever republican steps up to run for the seat. I’m happy to go door to door a few times, help cohost fundraisers or give any friendly advice the candidate is willing to take,” she wrote. She said time away from her children was a factor and “the last two weeks of session was just too much of a disruption for my family to put them through it again.”
Filing for the Aug. 16 primary has a June 1 deadline and as of this writing, no other candidate has emerged to challenge Claman.
