Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- People joke that the district Mark Neuman and challenger April Moore seek to represent in the state House has more resident moose than resident humans, but that doesn't make the challenge of representation any less daunting.

The district, which meanders from outside Wasilla south to Point MacKenzie and north nearly to Cantwell, is beyond diverse.

People near Settlers Bay south of Wasilla live the good life in $300,000 homes with a golf course and upscale eatery nearby and schools and shopping just up the road. People in Skwentna live a Bush-like lifestyle and fly or boat out of their community for medical care and supplies.

The issues facing the district are just as diverse. Houston, the smallest of three cities in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the only one in House District 15, is clamoring for jobs and development. Talkeetna, with a seasonal tourism industry, is fighting to keep its Alaska lifestyle and charm amid the growth. Just up the road in Trapper Creek, a recreational community on the road system where many still live without electricity or running water, residents battle to get money for necessities like bridges and schools while balancing the impacts of recreational tourism that sometimes threatens to overrun the community.

Neuman, a Republican from Big Lake, said roads and fuel prices are the common theme when he talks to residents. He's concerned about both issues and supports the state investigation into potential price-fixing that some state officials in Juneau believe may be keeping Alaska's fuel prices artificially high.

"They have the power to look into that. As a legislator, I don't," he said.

Fish, school funding and, of course the natural gas pipeline, are also hot topics on his radar. One of the biggest, he said, is power for residents who live just outside local power cooperative Matanuska Electric Association's service area. He said he wants to set up a pioneer power project fund to help extend power further into communities like Trapper Creek.

"We need something that's sustainable so we can continue to build that infrastructure," Neuman said. "The more you expand the power grid, the more it lowers everybody's cost."

Neuman, a former groundskeeper at Settlers Bay Golf Course and a carpenter, has represented the area since 2004 when he pulled off a primary election upset against 10-year representative Beverly Masek. He ran on a "common man" platform, including wearing simple white V-neck T-shirts to campaign appearances. These days he's better dressed but keeps the down-home approach when talking to constituents.

Moore, a former Matanuska-Susitna Borough employee and mother of three from Trapper Creek, is making a second attempt to unseat Neuman after trying unsuccessfully in 2006. She got 25 percent of the vote in that race.

Moore said she thinks she has an edge this time around because she's working closely with Willow resident Doyle Holmes, who also ran against Neuman in 2006. Holmes got 18 percent of that vote to Neuman's 56 percent.

She has also been campaigning steadily for the past two years, turning up at countless public meetings and sharing her views.

Moore said she thinks she's a more effective communicator than her opponent and can do a better job of building consensus between people with opposing viewpoints. Those skills served her well when she and others developed a plan to protect the Petersville Road corridor from flashy development some feared would come if the state built a new southern entrance to Denali State Park nearby, she said.

"We came up with a plan that served the community's needs," she said.

Moore recognizes her weakest point is a lack of on-the-ground experience. But she's developing relationships with legislators, she said, and by virtue of decades spent in the "rabble-rousing" community of Trapper Creek, she said she has the moxie to stand up and fight for what Valley residents want.

"We may be low in numbers, but we're big on heart -- that's the reason why we're able to make our views known and not get rolled over. That's exactly how I intend to approach this job," she said.

The winner of the primary race will face Lew Dischner, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at www.adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.

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