Kerttula, Munoz stay busy despite no primary, general election challengers

Beth Kerttula
Beth Kerttula. Photo courtesy Alaska State Legislature.

Juneau’s legislative delegation would’ve been excused if they took it easy this summer.

Representatives Beth Kerttula and Cathy Munoz are running unopposed in both next week’s primary and November’s general election. And Senator Dennis Egan is the only legislator who doesn’t have to run for reelection this year, because his district was largely unchanged by the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process.

But Kerttula says she’s been busy volunteering for the Alaska Sea Party’s pro-Ballot Measure 2 campaign to restore the Alaska Coastal Management Program.

She also says she spent part of the interim meeting with residents of Petersburg and Skagway — two new communities incorporated into her district under the latest redistricting plan.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” Kerttula says. “It’s a challenge, but it’s a really welcome one. And it also brings the communities closer together as a Southeast unit. We southeastern legislators tend to work together well and we unite often, especially on budget.”

Both Kerttula and Munoz say they’ve been busy working on constituent issues as well. Kerrtula says Petersburg residents came to her with concerns after the state ferry Matanuska slammed into a fish processing dock there earlier this year.

Munoz says she’s trying to keep up to speed on construction activity, especially a proposed Auke Bay traffic project led by the state Department of Transportation.

Cathy Munoz
Cathy Munoz. Photo courtesy Alaska State Legislature.

“Especially when there was concern about the possibility of acquiring the DeHart’s building to put in a roundabout,” Munoz says. “We advocated with the Department of Transportation and worked with the community groups that were concerned about that to find another location for the roundabout.”

Munoz is a Republican and Kerttula the Democratic Minority Leader. But both say the Juneau delegation works together across party lines to do what’s best for the Capital City. They both think that’s one reason why they don’t face any challengers in this year’s elections.

The primary is on Tuesday.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications