Governor Brewer blasts new Arizona congressional map

Governor says proposed congressional map is fatally flawed, a partisan giveaway to Democrats

  

Governor Jan Brewer today blasted a new Arizona congressional map preliminarily adopted this week by the Independent Redistricting Commission.

“The IRC proposal is simply gerrymandering at its worst,” said Governor Brewer. “This unaccountable, unelected Commission has misused its authority to draw a congressional map that is every Democrat’s dream. In doing so, they’ve violated their bedrock legal requirements to maintain districts that protect communities of interest and are geographically compact.”

Arizona undergoes redistricting every 10 years, with the new map generally tweaking congressional boundaries to account for population shifts and the gain or loss of districts. This new proposal, however, throws that concept out the window – completely rewriting Arizona’s congressional lines in a move that splits counties and communities and tosses large numbers of voters and sitting members of Congress into new districts.

To what end? The consensus among independent national and local media is becoming clear: to benefit Democrats. National political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, author of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, said the proposed congressional map has “significant partisan implications,” and “really helps Democrats and screws Republicans.” Politico said the draft plan “has the potential to drastically alter the state’s congressional landscape,” and that the map has Democrats “poised for gains.”

“Allegations have been rampant throughout the redistricting process that the IRC has violated the law, from its refusal to cooperate with a state investigation, to its disregard of procurement procedures and Arizona’s Open Meeting Law,” Governor Brewer said. “I’ve held my tongue, waiting for the results of the Arizona Attorney General’s investigation and hoping the IRC would put forward a fair proposal consistent with the requirements set forth in the Arizona Constitution. This map dashes those hopes, and I’ll be silent no longer. Arizona voters are owed a redistricting process that is lawful and transparent. The Arizona Constitution mandates that IRC members conduct redistricting ‘in an honest, independent and impartial fashion, upholding public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.’  Based on this proposal and the IRC’s prior behavior, it seems clear the commission is bent on awarding to the Democratic Party control of congressional districts that it could not win on Election Day. This is nothing less than neglect of duty and gross misconduct.”
            Members of the public will have 30 days in which to comment on this proposed congressional map. The IRC will host public hearings around the state beginning Oct. 11, or members of the public may comment at the IRC’s website: www.AZredistricting.org.

“I’ll be formally commenting to let the IRC know how I feel, and I urge Arizonans to do the same,” said Governor Brewer. “Redistricting only happens once every decade, and nothing will play a more critical role in Arizona’s congressional makeup. This is our opportunity to stop this travesty.”