Twenty-one Republicans in the Arizona Senate have voted to remove Colleen Mathis as chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission.

Mathis was afforded no opportunity to present a defense against the charges leveled against her by Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who was the acting governor because Gov. Jan Brewer was in New York to promote the launch of her book.

This was raw and ugly politics. Republicans didn’t like the maps as they were drawn and had enough votes to do something about it, so they exercised their power.

Arizona Capitol Times has details here, including this key detail:

With Mathis’ removal, the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments — the body that chooses IRC nominees from the pool of applicants — has 30 days to choose three candidates to replace her. The four remaining commissioners will have two weeks after that to select a chair from that pool. If the two Democrats and two Republicans do not reach a decision in that timeframe, the appellate commission will select the chair itself.

This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2011.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

4 replies on “Arizona Republicans Boot Mathis From IRC”

  2. No, the “raw and ugly politics” was the distortion of the committee by successfully inserting a Democrat posing as an Independent. The Republicans are not removing the fake Independent because they don’t like the map. They are acting in response to “substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office”. The committee ignored the constitutional mandates that the districts be compact, respect communities of interest, and respect natural boundaries. The process they are using is the one voters approved in Prop 106.

Comments are closed.