As I sat in the room awaiting my turn to coment, a visibly disturbed Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission chairwoman got up from her seat in the middle of a comment from an attendee, and walked over to the legal counsel's table, clutching her iPhone. As the inquisitive look on the counsel's face turned to stone solemn, I got the news too.
Gov. Jan Brewer and every single member of the GOP delegation released near simultaneous press releases not just criticizing the AIRC's maps (that leave 4- that's right, 4 our of 9- safe Republican seats) but saying that the whole process has been rigged from the start.
Via RoseLaw Blog:
“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.”
...
“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.”
Indeed, every Republican in the state is using Stuart Rothenberg's "Republicans got screwed" line to rally the troops.
The local media is playing along just fine as well. See Laurie Roberts' Republicans Just Got Screwed.
What these folks are counting on is the complete and utter ignorance of most Arizonans to the redistricting process in order to undo what Arizona voters had thought they finally killed over a decade ago. Proposition 106, which established the AIRC.
The Arizona GOP is being forced to fight a fair fight, with just 3 competivie districts out of 9. Instead of trying to win, they are instead going to bring the commission down.
It first started with Tom Horne and his political witchhunt of Colleen Mathis(background here) what seemed like just weeks after the AIRC began its work (at the behest of the Tea Party). Slowly, the establishment GOP also got on board, accussing Mathis of being a closet Democrat.
Now, the Tea Partiers and the AZGOP are in full meltdown. They are resorting to clearly ridiculous accusations that anyone following the process could dismiss as entirely out of hand! The GOP commissioners wanted the third border district. They wanted AZ-01 where it is, and so did the Navajo Nation. And they wanted Northern Yuma County out of Grijalva's district. And they got it.
There is no reason for the AZGOP and Jan Brewer to wage this war against Mathis and AIRC, if they wanted fairness.
But they do not.
Overheard by yours truly today at the AIRC meeting, was a conversation with a Tea Partier and an Arizona legislator. Wanna know what they talked about?
Using EVERY. SINGLE. tactic they could to kill these maps. Lawsuits. Removing commissioners (which ... guess who? has the power to do- Jan Brewer). And they were stupid enough to think I wouldn't listen when they said that Brewer would play hardball to keep their interests.
Not just that though. They said 106 was a mistake. "Undemocratic". And next year, they'll be spending time and money to get it repealed. They can't do it through the legislature (even though the TP'er wanted them to change the constitution in the middle of the game), so they will wage an all out war next general election to kill 106 and AIRC so that crony redistricting can become the norm once again.
So what can you do?
You need to let EVERYONE you know about this blatantly disgusting attack on AIRC. Don't let the GOP propaganda take hold. Look back at the maps and minutes. The proof is all there against their claims.
You need to show up and comment at the AIRC hearings this month and next.
This is going to be grassroots folks. The establishment (AZGOP) is bringing their big guns to the fight.
So must we.
8:02 AM PT: Another interesting takeaway from yesterday's meeting: The Pima County Libertarian Party chair was the first to address the AZ GOP's assault on AIRC yesterday. His message: "Stand strong; Do not buckle." The AZ GOP is making a purely partisan play here- and anyone who has paid an ounce of attention knows it.
8:07 AM PT: Can't believe I forgot to add AZ DEM chair Andrei Cherny's response:
http://azdem.org/...
Hard hits. Good points.
Have you talked with your neighbors/coworkers/friends about this yet?
8:25 AM PT: Mark Evans also has the same conclusion: The AZ GOP isn't content with just stopping these maps- they want to destroy the commission outright.
http://tucsoncitizen.com/...
8:32 AM PT: Blog For Arizona's AzBlueMeanie has more on this coordinated effort:
http://www.blogforarizona.com/...
The name of the Republican front group is "FAIR Trust." Of course.