Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River, for which it is named, between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577. Settled by homesteaders, Eagle River has been annexed to the Municipality of Anchorage since the 1970s—a relationship that is, at times, complicated. On the one hand, Eagle River functions as an Anchorage suburb, with a number of Eagle River residents working in, shopping or participating in community life in the Anchorage bowl. Much of the community is also made up of residents from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. On the other hand, the community is itself a significant business hub between Wasilla and Anchorage, offering shopping, restaurants, recreation and employment. Secession efforts have from time to time gained traction by residents who would like Eagle River legally regarded as a separate community. Eagle River also has a close relationship with its neighboring community to the north, Chugiak, with which it shares some history. If Eagle River were not part of the Municipality of Anchorage, it would be classified as one of the five largest cities in Alaska.
The 24th Alaska State Legislature served during 2005 and 2006. 9 members of the Alaska Senate were elected on November 5, 2002. The remaining senators and all members of the Alaska House of Representatives were elected on November 2, 2004.
Chugiak High School is a public high school located in Chugiak, Anchorage, Alaska, and a part of the Anchorage School District. Chugiak's mascot is the Mustang and the school colors are blue, black, and white. In 2005, Chugiak's student population was split as half their students went to the new Eagle River High School. As of 2020, it has a student enrollment of 905 and 47 teachers.
Leland Chancy Croft is a workers' compensation attorney and Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968, he served a single term from 1969 to 1971. He was then elected to the Alaska Senate, serving in that body from 1971 to 1979, including serving as the president of the Senate from 1975 to 1977 during the 9th Alaska State Legislature.
Anchorage is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 398,328 in 2020, accounting for more than half the state's population. At 1,706 sq mi (4,420 km2) of land area, the city is the fourth-largest by area in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, which has 1,212 sq mi (3,140 km2).
Bill P. Wielechowski is an American lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate representing District H. District H is located in Anchorage, Alaska and includes Spenard and the University of Alaska at Anchorage. Prior to the 2012 redistricting process, he represented District J from 2007 to 2013.
Lyda N. Green is a retired educator and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. Green, as a political newcomer, was elected to the Alaska Senate in 1994, defeating a 22-year Democratic incumbent in a district representing most of the population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Two Democratic members of the Alaska House of Representatives, also from the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, were defeated in the same election. Green served a total of fourteen years in the Senate and was its president in her final two years in office.
Scott Jiu Wo Kawasaki is an American healthcare professional and politician from Alaska. A Democrat, he is a member of the Alaska Senate representing the state's District A, which includes neighborhoods within the city limits of Fairbanks.
Bryce Edgmon is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 37th District since 2006. He served as speaker from 2019-2021. The district includes all or portions of the Kodiak Island Borough, Aleutians East Borough, Lake and Peninsula Borough, Bristol Bay Borough, and the Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area.
Jalmar Martin "Jay" Kerttula was an American businessman, farmer, and politician in Alaska. A member of the Democratic Party, Kerttula was the longest-serving member of the Alaska Legislature, having served in the House from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 1973 and in the Senate from 1973 to 1995. In January 2019, Lyman Hoffman became the longest-serving member in the history of the Alaska Legislature, surpassing Kerttula's tenure.
Donald William Stoltze is an American politician. A Republican, he was a member of the Alaska Senate representing District F. He was elected in 2014 after serving since 2003 as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 16th District.
William A. Thomas Jr. is a businessman, commercial fisherman, and politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Thomas served as a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 5th District, comprising scattered rural and semi-rural communities throughout Southeast Alaska and stretching westward to Prince William Sound, from 2005 to 2013. Thomas served in the majority his entire tenure in the House and held multiple chairmanships. Thomas gained a seat on the powerful House Finance Committee during his second term and would eventually co-chair the committee. Following redistricting, Thomas lost reelection in 2012 by 32 votes to 23-year-old Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a political newcomer who left Yale University to run.
Anna MacKinnon is an American Republican politician who is formerly a member of the Alaska Senate, representing District G from 2013 to 2018. Prior to that, she served in the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 17th district, from 2007 to 2013. In the 26th Alaska State Legislature, she was a member of the House Finance Committee, and chair of the Education & Early Development, Labor & Workforce Development and the University Of Alaska Finance Subcommittees. She also represented Eagle River and Chugiak on the Anchorage Assembly from 1999 until being elected to the House. She was elected to each of these offices by defeating an incumbent in the election; her Assembly victory was over incumbent Ted Carlson, better known as the Anchorage police officer who arrested actor Steve McQueen in 1972. Her House victory came in the 2006 primary over incumbent Pete Kott, who by that point was involved in what became known as the Alaska political corruption probe, and who was later sentenced to federal prison. The probe also saw other longtime legislators leave office. Her Senate victory in 2012 came over longtime legislator Bettye Davis, who faced not only redistricting but a primary election challenge from former House member and congressional candidate Harry Crawford, whom Davis narrowly outpolled.
The Fourth Alaska State Legislature served from January 25, 1965, to January 22, 1967.
The Fifth Alaska State Legislature served from January 23, 1967, to January 26, 1969.
Catherine Andrea Giessel, is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska, who served as a member of the Alaska Senate from 2011 to 2021. From 2013 to 2021, Giessel represented District N in the Alaska Senate, including Northeast Anchorage, Anchorage Hillside and the Turnagain Arm communities of Bird, Girdwood, Indian, and Anchorage, all within the Municipality of Anchorage. First elected in 2010 while identifying with Tea Party values, she has also served as the vice-chair of the state Republican Party and had a career in nursing. Following redistricting, she was elected to a different senate seat in 2012. Giessel serves as chair of the Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. After Senate President Pete Kelly was unseated in 2018, Giessel was elected president of the Alaska Senate, a post she held until 2021.
Frederick John Dyson was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate, serving since 2003. He represented District I from 2003 through 2012 until redistricting placed him in District F in 2013. District I contained the core community of Eagle River, where Dyson resides, and stretched across the northern edge of Anchorage municipal boundaries to Government Hill, also including the core area of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. After being redistricted again in 2012 he declined to run for reelection in 2014 against another incumbent, Anna Fairclough.
Lora H. Reinbold is an American politician who is a member of the Alaska Senate. She was a member of the Alaska House from 2013 to 2019, representing District 26. Reinbold is the only member of the Alaska State Legislature who is unaffiliated with a caucus organization, as she was ejected from the Republican-led majority caucus in March 2015.
Forrest Dunbar is an American politician, attorney, and military officer who is a member-elect of the Alaska Senate, representing eastern Anchorage in District J. A member of the Democratic Party, he is currently serving as a member of the Anchorage Assembly from the fifth district since 2016. He also serves as a major and a judge advocate general in the Alaska Army National Guard.
The 2022 Alaska Senate elections took place on November 8, 2022, with the primary elections being held on August 16, 2022. State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate, with half of the seats normally up for election every two years. However, because most districts were greatly changed in redistricting, elections were held for 19 of the 20 seats. The only exception is District T, represented by Democrat Donny Olson, which was mostly unchanged in redistricting and thus did not have an election. Some senators were elected to serve four-year terms, while others would serve shortened two-year terms.
