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Colleen Mathis impeachment sets off legal firestorm in Arizona redistricting fight

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Colleen Mathis impeachment sets off legal firestorm in Arizona redistricting fight
By ALEX ISENSTADT | 11/2/11 10:45 PM EDT

When redistricting deals a blow to one party, there’s typically not much to be done beyond grumbling and last-ditch lawsuits.

Not in Arizona.

In a stunning display of executive muscle-flexing, GOP Gov. Jan Brewer instigated an impeachment this week of the top official on Arizona’s independent redistricting panel, throwing the state’s once-in-a-decade line-drawing process into chaos and setting off a legal fight. 


For Republicans, the commission’s proposed congressional map emerged as a problem, positioning Democrats to compete for a majority of the state’s nine House seats. The blueprint led Republicans to charge that Colleen Mathis, a registered independent, was trying to help Democrats.

Under the plan, which was expected to be finalized as soon as next week, GOP Rep. Paul Gosar would be made more vulnerable. Two other Republican first-termers, Reps. Ben Quayle and David Schweikert, would be pitted against each other for a Scottsdale-area seat. The plan also established a new district that would have favored Democrats.

Brewer argued that the process under Mathis failed to meet the constitutional criteria that had been established when the commission was approved by voters more than a decade ago, including stipulations that the panel hold all its negotiations publicly and that the map account for communities of interest. The panel is composed of Mathis, two Republicans and two Democrats.

In a statement Tuesday announcing her call for a vote, Brewer said: “I recognize that my decision will not be popular in some quarters. I certainly did not reach it lightly. However, the conduct of the [Independent Redistricting Commission] — led by Chairwoman Mathis — has created a cloud of suspicion that will not lift. A flawed redistricting process has resulted in a flawed product. Just as disturbing, the public does not have confidence in the integrity of the current redistricting process. As chairwoman of this commission, the buck stops with Ms. Mathis.”

Brewer was in New York on Tuesday promoting her new book, so it fell upon Secretary of State Ken Bennett, a Republican, to call the state Senate into a special session to hold the impeachment vote.

Independent panels have become a favorite punching bag of politicians — many of whom are used to lobbying state legislators to steer redistricting in their favor. In California, which established a bipartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission, members fumed about a process that was largely overseen by a group of political neophytes.

For Brewer — who burnished a national reputation by signing into law a hard-line immigration bill — the lines just couldn’t stand.

“She made the determination at the end of the day that this just wasn’t going to happen on her watch,” said Chuck Coughlin, Brewer’s political consultant. “I don’t know if you can do much worse than the maps you have here.”


The state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, approved the Mathis impeachment in a 21-6 vote Tuesday night that fell along party lines. Republicans close to Brewer say pushing GOP lawmakers to vote for impeachment was no sure bet because the newly created state legislative districts — also drafted under Mathis — largely favor Republicans.

Democrats called the impeachment a blatant power grab by Brewer and an attempt to meddle in the business of an independent committee.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called the vote a “coup,” while Andrei Cherny, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, said it was a “historic abuse of power without parallel in modern American history.”

“Every honest person in the state agrees that this is not about substantial neglect of duty or gross misconduct in office,” he said. “It is about protecting the careers of Republican congressmen at the expense of good government and fair elections.” 



The redistricting commission has filed a temporary restraining order with the Maricopa County Superior Court in an attempt to stop the impeachment, and the Arizona Democratic Party has also threatened legal action.

If legal efforts to block the vote don’t work, a commission on appellate court nominations must approve a replacement for Mathis. How the courts rule could ultimately decide whether the commission’s current proposal is thrown out.

Jason Rose, a GOP consultant in the state, predicted that the map will eventually look dramatically different from the draft that set off the firestorm.

“All that forecasting is out the window right now,” he said. “I think you’re going to see potentially significant changes.”

Coughlin said Brewer is well aware that her impeachment push will be regarded as controversial but said she relishes the fight.

“When she decides to go counter to popular culture, she tends to do pretty well,” he said. “I think she’s someone who tries to find her own path.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67484.html#ixzz1cdJHag6O




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