Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer failed to provide a constitutional reason for removing the chairwoman of the Independent Redistricting Commission, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday.

Brewer on Monday asked Arizona's high court to clarify why it overturned her removal of Colleen Coyle Mathis.

Late Wednesday, the court did just that, saying the governor had not been able to "identify conduct that provides a constitutional basis for (Mathis') removal."

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the governor had not decided what action, if any, to take.

But House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, said Brewer should again oust Mathis, calling the Supreme Court's ruling "pathetic." He also said he would support a special session to either repeal or reform the voter-approved initiative that created the five-member commission, which is charged with drawing new legislative and congressional boundaries for the next decade.

Brewer has been noncommittal on a session, which would have to happen by Wednesday to get on the Feb. 28 ballot, as many Republican lawmakers want. Nor was the governor certain immediately Wednesday what, if anything, she would do next.

"The governor and her legal team will be studying this decision," Benson said.

He added Brewer was "glad the court responded and responded quickly, but obviously disappointed at the substance of (its) decision."

Jean-Jacques Cabou, an attorney for the redistricting commission, said the high court made it clear there are constitutional limits on the governor's power.

"On the eve of Thanksgiving, I think every Arizonan should be thankful for that," Cabou said.

Brewer had argued the Arizona Constitution gave her the sole authority to determine what is "gross misconduct" and "substantial neglect of duty," the criteria outlined in Proposition 106 for removing a commissioner.

But the court disagreed, and in its order said Brewer's Nov. 1 removal letter to Mathis "does not, as a matter of law, identify conduct that provides a constitutional basis for removal."

The order also punched holes in the hopes of some GOP lawmakers, who believed the governor's letter simply needed to be written better and the removal would stick.

The problem, Vice Chief Justice Andrew Hurwitz wrote, "is based on the letter's substance, not its format."

The order comes as the commission, with Mathis reinstated, plans to resume work next week. It announced a series of three meetings, beginning Tuesday in Tempe, to begin refining the draft maps it approved last month.

Those drafts touched off a political firestorm in GOP circles, with Republicans complaining the commission ignored constitutional criteria in crafting them. The governor ultimately invoked the removal provision, citing concerns she shared with members of Arizona's GOP congressional delegation. Among other things, the preliminary congressional map pitted U.S. House incumbents David Schweikert and Ben Quayle against each other in a primary, and put Rep. Paul Gosar in a district that might reduce his re-election chances.

The commission is barred by the constitution from considering the addresses of incumbents and political candidates.

Despite those concerns, the draft congressional map would create four GOP-dominant districts, two that are safe for Democrats and three toss-up districts.

Because of population growth, Arizona must add a ninth congressional district and reconfigure the state's 30 legislative districts.

The draft legislative map contains 15 to 17 districts viewed as safe for Republicans, while eight to 10 favor Democrats. That leaves anywhere from three to seven competitive districts in which a candidate from either party would have a good chance of winning.

Voters created the commission 11 years ago when they approved Prop. 106, taking the politically sensitive process of drawing maps out of the hands of the governor and the Legislature and giving it to the citizen volunteer panel.

Mathis is the lone independent on the commission; there are two Republicans and two Democrats. Last weekend, Mathis said she hoped the commission could finalize the maps by Christmas and send them to the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the new boundaries protect minority voting rights.

Although many Republican lawmakers have pushed for a repeal of the law that created the commission, it was not clear whether Brewer would be willing to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to do just that.

"She has real concerns about how Prop. 106 functions in this state," Benson said of the governor. "But she has never committed to an outright special session to repeal it."

When pressed on the issue, Benson would only say that "there are many factors" that would determine whether the governor issued a special session call, including "what is in the best interest of the state."

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