The Arizona state Senate voted 21-6 to remove Colleen Mathis. Arizona redistricting chief impeached

Arizona’s redistricting process dissolved into chaos Tuesday night after state lawmakers voted to impeach the top official on the independent commission tasked with crafting the state’s congressional districts, throwing the once-in-a-decade line-drawing into legal limbo.

The 21-6 vote in the state Senate to remove Colleen Mathis, the chairwoman of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, marked a display of legislative power on the part of Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who made a forceful push encouraging GOP lawmakers, who control the Senate, to impeach.


Brewer and the GOP legislators objected to the commission’s draft proposal, which positioned Democrats to compete for a majority of the state’s nine congressional seats and threatened to pit two of the state’s GOP freshmen together in a primary.

Brewer argued that the process under Mathis had failed to meet the constitutional criteria that had been established when the commission was approved by voters more than a decade ago. The panel is composed of Mathis, a registered independent, two Republicans and two Democrats.

In a Tuesday statement announcing her decision to call for the 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 IRC – 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.”

The redistricting commission has filed a temporary restraining order with the Maricopa County Superior Court attempting 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. The draft redistricting plan was expected to be finalized as soon as next week.

Andrei Cherny, chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, called the impeachment vote “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.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Arizona Democratic Party had filed a temporary restraining order. It has threatened legal action, but has not yet filed.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Emily Howell @ 11/02/2011 01:34 PM Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the Arizona Democratic Party had filed a temporary restraining order. It has threatened legal action, but has not yet filed.