When the Alaska Public Offices Commission asked where she would run:
“I put down all of the places that I know could potentially be in it. Petersburg, Gustavus, Tenakee, Skagway and Juneau. So wherever I wind up, I’m going to run,” she says.
The Redistricting Board has re-drawn the district to include those communities, but a pending lawsuit could change it. However it turns out, Kerttula says she is looking forward to an expanded district.
“I just think it is exciting to get new issues and new people and to think about in a holistic sense how Southeast itself operates,” she says. “When I think about what this district means it really would kind of be the glue to the whole of Southeast.”
Kerttula says it’s especially important for Southeast Alaska communities to pull together since the region is losing representation in redistricting.
“If we can get all of those communities working together we can be a little more powerful.”
Kerttula, a Democrat, is in her seventh term for House District Three, which currently is downtown Juneau; Douglas; Lemon, Salmon and Switzer Creek areas; and the Juneau airport area. She’s also in her fourth year as minority leader for the state House of Representatives.
A letter of intent is only the first step to running for office. She still has to file with the Alaska Division of Elections. That’s not required until next spring.
