Session: State Capitol, Room 427 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-2828 Fax: (907) 465-4779 Interim: 35477 Kenai Spur Highway, Suite 101 B Soldotna, AK 99669 Phone: (907) 260-3041 Fax: (907) 260-3044 345 W. Sterling Highway, Suite 102 Homer, AK 99603 Phone: (907) 235-0690 Fax: (907) 235-4008

Sen. John Torgerson Leaving Legislature
Kasilof Senator a Leader on Education, Municipal, Gasline Issues

(SOLDOTNA) -- After eight years of service to the people of the Kenai Peninsula and the state of Alaska, Sen. John Torgerson (R-Kasilof) announced today he will not seek re-election to his Senate seat this fall.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed representing my friends and neighbors on the Kenai, and will miss the opportunity to serve them in this forum," said Torgerson. "But there is clearly a benefit to allowing new ideas and new blood into the Legislature, and it's time for me to step aside and give someone else a chance."

Torgerson, 54, was first elected to the Senate from the Kenai in 1994, and is in the last year of his second four-year term. He is currently chair of the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee, the Senate Resources Committee, and the Joint Committee on Natural Gas Pipelines. He also served as co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee in 1999-2000.

A former Kenai Peninsula borough assemblymember, Torgerson has brought a municipal perspective to his service in the Senate. He was heavily involved in revising the state's program for funding local school districts and educational programs; led the effort to protect and revise the state's municipal revenue sharing program; and has been a tireless advocate of both state and local interests in developing a pipeline to bring Alaska's North Slope natural gas to market.

Torgerson has retained a personal touch, as well. When students at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School decided the moose should be the official state mammal, Torgerson won passage of legislation enshrining their desire into law.

With a brisk, no-nonsense approach to his legislative duties, Torgerson has earned widespread appreciation -- not only from his constituents, but also from local, state and federal officials -- for his ability to cut through the bureaucratic thicket and get to the heart of the matter.

Torgerson's seat encompasses most of the Kenai Peninsula: Seldovia, Homer, Soldotna, Sterling Cooper Landing and Seward and surrounding areas. While the redistricting plan reconfigures the district to drop Homer and Seward while adding Kenai and Nikiski, Torgerson said redistricting did not play a part in his decision not to seek re-election, as he has friends throughout the district.

While he will remain focused on the challenges still before the Legislature until his term expires next January, Torgerson said he has not closed the door on any future options.

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