Valdez lost its fight not to be lumped in with Mat-Su. All that's left is an $11,000 bill.

Valdez spent years fighting not to be grouped with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in a single legislative district. It lost. What remains is an $11,000 bill, and the Alaska Supreme Court has set argument on it for Oct. 8.

The dispute is over House District 29, which pairs three Valdez precincts with six in Mat-Su. Valdez argued the pairing was unconstitutional; the Supreme Court disagreed in 2023, upholding the district while faulting the Redistricting Board for meeting in closed sessions. The map is settled, stands through the 2030 Census, and nothing about the 2026 election turns on it.

Because Valdez lost and Mat-Su was on the winning side, the leftover judgment runs in the borough's favor: about $11,000 in costs, which Valdez owes and is appealing.

Almost everyone else has walked away. Most of the original parties, including the state and five Native corporations and tribal organizations, have bowed out, leaving only the Redistricting Board still briefing against Valdez. So what heads to the state's highest court in October is a town contesting an $11,000 bill from a case it already lost, in a fight nearly everyone else has abandoned.