Don’t reopen Redist Comm nominations

by David Safier

Whether or not Craig is right that reopening the Redistricting Commission nominations may violate the AZ Constitution, one thing seems pretty clear.

If the nominating committee picked eligible candidates for the commission, there is nothing to reopen. A bunch of people submitted their names for nomination. The committee chose 25, from which the final 5 commissioners will be picked. Two of those chosen had second thoughts and withdrew their nominations. That still leaves 23 of the 25 nominees to fill 5 positions, which is more than enough.

It will set one more frightening precedent for the success of Republican strongarm tactics in Arizona if the nominating committee buckles.

BTW, the Star editorial joined those of us who oppose Adams and Pearce's tactics (yesterday's AZ Republic editorial spoke out strongly against the tactics).  Most of the editorial talks about the appointment of judges, but the last third deals with the Redistricting Commission nominations. Since the Star doesn't "call bullshit" on people in the paper — not in those words, anyway — it chose the more socially acceptable phrase, "Oh, hooey." Same difference.