Alaska’s next governor will help choose who draws the legislative map for the 2030s

By SUZANNE DOWNING

Nov. 11, 2026 – Alaska is moving toward a Democratic governor working with Democrat-aligned legislative coalitions, an arrangement whose consequences will extend far beyond the next four years.

One of the most enduring impacts will be the selection of the state board that redraws Alaska’s legislative districts after the 2030 census.

With Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leading the governor’s race, conservatives face the prospect of losing more than the executive branch. A Kreiss-Tomkins victory would put two appointments to the next Alaska Redistricting Board in the hands of a Democratic governor. And he would not need to win reelection to make them.

Under Alaska’s Constitution, the next board must be appointed by Sept. 1, 2030, while the governor elected this November would still be serving his first term. The next gubernatorial election would take place two months later. 

Republicans could win back the governor’s office in November 2030, but still arrive too late to select the board that will draw legislative districts for the following decade.

That makes this year’s governor’s race consequential well beyond the immediate debates over pensions, education spending, taxes and how much more of the Permanent Fund dividend Alaska lawmakers will take.

Alaska’s five-member Redistricting Board is selected through appointments distributed among four officials:

The governor makes the first two appointments, followed by the Senate president, House speaker and chief justice. Three votes are required for board action and adoption of a final redistricting plan. 

If Democrat-aligned coalitions retain both legislative presiding offices through the appointment deadline, those leaders and a Democratic governor would together select four of the five members, having a substantial influence over the board’s composition within the same governing alignment.

Incoming Senate President Cathy Giessel, a Republican who governs as a Democrat, and incoming House Speaker Calvin Schrage, an independent also aligned with Democrats, have been selected to lead their respective coalitions. Giessel may still hold her leadership position in 2030 and be the one to appoint to the Redistricting Board. The House leadership may churn, as every member faces reelection every two years.

The redistrict board establishes 40 House districts and pairs them into 20 Senate districts. Those boundaries determine which communities vote together and can influence whether legislative races are competitive, which incumbents face one another and how population changes translate into representation. 

In Alaska, the immediate stakes concern control of the state Legislature. The state currently has one statewide US House district, so there are no internal congressional district lines to rearrange.