Redistricting in Arizona

The Arizona Constitution mandates that "by February 28 of each year that ends in one, an independent redistricting commission shall be established to provide for the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts."[11] The state Commission on Appellate Court Appointments solicits and reviews applications from the public and nominates 25 candidates – ten Democrats, ten Republicans and five independents.[9] The Constitution also specifies that "within the three years previous to appointment, members shall not have been appointed to, elected to, or a candidate for any other public office, including precinct committeeman or committeewoman but not including school board member or officer, and shall not have served as an officer of a political party, or served as a registered paid lobbyist or as an officer of a candidate's campaign committee."[11] The leaders of the two largest parties in both houses of the legislature (in practice, the Senate and House Democratic and Republican leaders) select one candidate each to be commissioners. Of the four commissioners selected by the legislature, no more than two may be from the same party or from the same county.[11] Once the four partisan commissioners are set, they then select an independent chair from the list of candidates compiled by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments. This fifth member is not subject to the county residency limit otherwise imposed, so in practice up to three members of the AIRC may be from a single county.

Once the membership of the commission is determined, several months of administrative and educational meetings and sessions follow. Actual map work and public fora usually begin in the late summer.

Article 4 Part 2 Section 1 of the Constitution grants Arizona's governor the power to remove any member of the commission "with the concurrence of two-thirds of the senate, for substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge the duties of office."[11] Arizona governor, Jan Brewer, became the first to exercise this prerogative when, on November 1, 2011 the Arizona Senate approved her removal of AIRC chairwoman Colleen Mathis by a party-line vote of 21–6.[12] The Arizona Supreme Court, however, unanimously ruled Mathis's removal unconstitutional on November 17 and ordered her reinstatement as AIRC chairwoman.[13]

Current commissioners

Commissioners for 2020 census redistricting:[14]

• Erika Schupak Neuberg, independent of Maricopa County (chair)
• Derrick Watchman, Democrat of Apache County (vice chair)
• Shereen Lerner, Democrat of Maricopa County
• Douglas York, Republican of Maricopa County
• David Mehl, Republican of Pima County

Past commissioners

Past commissioners for 2010 census redistricting:[15]

• Colleen Mathis, independent of Pima County (chair)
• Linda McNulty, Democrat of Pima County
• Jose Herrera, Democrat of Maricopa County
• Scott Freeman, Republican of Maricopa County
• Richard Stertz, Republican of Pima County

Past commissioners for 2000 census redistricting:[16]

• Steven W. Lynn, independent of Pima County (chair)
• Daniel Elder, Republican of Pima County
• Joshua Hall, Democrat of Apache County
• James Huntwork, Republican of Maricopa County
• Andi Minkoff, Democrat of Maricopa County (vice chair)

The Elections Clause of the federal constitution provides, "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof." (emphasis added). Because the independent redistricting commission was created by voters through ballot initiative rather than by the legislature, the constitutionality of congressional district maps drawn by the commission was under dispute. (All agree the commission has authority to draw state district maps.) The Arizona Legislature filed suit in federal court, seeking to take back the power to draw congressional district lines. The case eventually went before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Arizona Legislature was so confident that it would prevail in the U.S. Supreme Court that it even hired a firm to redraw the congressional district maps without waiting for the Court to make its decision.[17]

On June 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the legislature's argument in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.[18] The Court held the term "legislature" in the Elections Clause could be read broadly to mean "the power that makes laws," not just the two representative houses. Because Arizona Constitution granted voters exactly "the power that makes laws," the voters were not prohibited from adopting laws governing redistricting.[19]

The court's decision left intact the independent redistricting commission's full authority, and implicitly upheld similar commissions in other states, notably the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The Supreme Court upheld the 2010 redistricting in Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.[20]

Between 2000 and 2010 Arizona's population grew by 1,261,385 people, from 5,130,632 to 6,392,017, a 24.6 percent increase. This represented the second highest population growth rate in the country after Nevada and far outpaced the national average, resulting in Arizona gaining a ninth congressional seat through reapportionment. The AIRC for the 2011–2020 cycle started administrative meetings in March 2011 and held its first official mapping meeting on August 18, 2011.[23] Through the spring and summer, the committee held meetings and public fora around the state to solicit public input. The AIRC approved draft congressional and draft legislative maps on October 3 and October 10 respectively and has completed two rounds of hearings gauging Arizonans' reactions to the draft maps.

Population growth over the first decade of the century was concentrated in the exurbs of Phoenix. To Maricopa County's southeast, Pinal County, once sparsely populated, grew by 100 percent, to 375,770.[24] Communities to the west of the capital also expanded substantially.[25] Demographically, "the Hispanic population grew by 46 percent statewide over the last decade – more than twice the growth of all other ethnic groups."[26]

The draft congressional map, which was approved by the commission by a vote of 3–1 with one abstention, was seen by outside observers as generally favorable to Democrats;[27][28] neither Republican member voted in favor of it. Several Democratic incumbents, including Raul Grijalva and Gabby Giffords, were drawn into slightly more Democratic districts. Additionally, the 9th district, based in Tempe and comprising much of the old 5th district, would be competitive and possibly Democratic-leaning, having voted for John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.[28] Two freshman representatives, Paul Gosar and Ben Quayle, faced the choice of running in much less Republican districts or moving to safer districts where they could potentially face competitive primaries.[28] Maricopa County would continue to dominate the state's politics under the new map: eight of Arizona's nine congressional districts extend into its more than 3.8 million-person territory.[29]

In an unprecedented vote on November 1, 2011, the Arizona Senate approved Governor Jan Brewer's removal of the AIRC's independent chairwoman, Colleen Mathis, under allegations of gross misconduct.[30] On November 17, the Arizona Supreme Court summarily and unanimously overturned Governor Brewer's removal of Mathis, ordering her reinstatement as commission chair.[13] Mathis, who denied all wrongdoing, attempted to have the Arizona Supreme Court stop the Senate from voting to remove her, but the vote took place before the case could go forward. Brewer also attempted to remove both Democratic members of the commission in the same motion,[30] but the Senate declined to vote on those removals. Attorneys for Mathis and the AIRC brought suit to the state Supreme Court asking it "to rule the governor exceeded her legal authority in dismissing Mathis, and the Senate acted illegally in ratifying Brewer's decision."[31] While Brewer's office and Republicans in the Arizona legislature defended their actions as part of their constitutional prerogatives, Democrats and the authors of Proposition 106 contend Mathis's removal was politically motivated and not justified by any of the violations alleged by Republicans. In the following days, Arizona's two major newspapers, The Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star, penned editorials condemning the move, writing that though the allegations against Mathis merit investigation, they do not rise to the level of "gross misconduct."[32][33] The Star opined, "It appears that Mathis' real misdeed is putting out for public comment a map that the governor and fellow Republicans think is wrong."[33]

On November 17, the Supreme Court ruled against the Brewer administration, finding that "the governor did not demonstrate substantial grounds for removing Mathis from the head of the redistricting panel." The court ordered her reinstated as chairwoman of the AIRC.

With the reinstatement of Chairman Mathis, the AIRC continued drawing and finalizing the maps. In an attempt to ensure that the process was fair and transparent, the commission held 58 business meetings and 43 public hearings in locations all over the state, for a total of over 359 hours in an 11-month period. There were a total of over 5,000 attendees at those meetings, and 2,350 speaking requests were granted. The commission streamed almost every meeting to the internet, allowing another 1,850 distinct viewers to join.[34] After these meetings and the continued deliberations of the committee, the AIRC submitted the final congressional and legislative maps to the Department of Justice on February 9, 2012 and February 28, 2012 respectively for preclearance under the Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department approved the maps on April 9, 2012 and April 26, 2012 respectively.[35]