Top Democratic legislators are going to court after accusing a nominating panel of trying to pass off partisan Republicans for what is supposed to be a nonpartisan slot on the Independent Redistricting Commission.
House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez and David Bradley, her Senate counterpart, contend two of the five nominees who would wind up chairing the commission are really Republicans.
That, they argue, violates the constitutional requirement for how the panel has to be made up.
The dispute is more than academic. The makeup of the commission will determine which party gets a political edge in legislative and congressional elections for the coming decade.
The lines for districts were once drawn by the Arizona Legislature. That often resulted in more districts that were favorable to the party already in power.
In 2000, voters created the Independent Redistricting Commission of five members. Four commissioners are chosen by the leaders of the two major parties. Those four select a fifth, the person who is supposed to be the political independent. In all cases, they have to choose from a list of those nominated by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments: 10 from each political party and five not registered with either of the two major parties.
Attorney Jim Barton said the problem is that two of the five who are supposed to be independents are really not.
One complaint involves Thomas Loquvam.
Barton said constitutional rules preclude anyone who as been "a registered paid lobbyist'' within the past three years from serving on the redistricting commission.
Loquvam said on his application that he is not a paid lobbyist because he is not "compensated for the primary purpose of lobbying on behalf of a principal.'' But Barton pointed out he actually is listed on the Arizona Corporation Commission web site a lobbyist for utility company EPCOR.
There was no immediate response to an inquiry to Loquvam.
The complaint against Robert Wilson is a bit more complex. Barton acknowledges that he has been a registered independent since 2005. But he told the court that "on information and belief'' that Wilson voted Republican in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
"I'm curious to know how anyone knows how I voted,'' Wilson responded to Capitol Media Services. "And I have a call in to the county Recorder's Office to find out what information is and is not public relative to that.''
Wilson did acknowledge contributed $500 in 2010 to the presidential bid of Republican John McCain but said it was because the senator was "a fellow Navy veteran.''
Then there's what was described by Barton as an August political rally for Trump in the parking lot of Timberline Firearms in Flagstaff which Wilson owns.
"It was not a rally,'' Wilson said.
Wilson told Capitol Media Services he was contacted by a local Republican who asked if they could use the lot for a meeting with Republican candidates.
"As a small business owner who's faced lots of challenges in the past few months, the thought of having a couple of hundred people in my parking lot, and to educate people, I agreed to that,'' Wilson said. "At no time did I endorse anyone.''
Barton wants a judge to declare that the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments violated the Arizona Constitution by nominating the two and require the panel to submit two new names of people who do meet the criteria.
A spokesman for Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, who heads the appellate court commission, said he could not comment "because these questions and issues could come before the court.''
"The arguing sides will make their case and the courts will consider the arguments in reaching a decision,'' said Aaron Nash.
The reason Barton wants quick action on the lawsuit has to do with another provision of the Arizona Constitution. It says the first appointment goes to House Speaker Rusty Bowers, followed by a pick by Fernandez as minority leader, Senate President Karen Fann and then Bradley as the top Senate Democrat.
But it also says that once a pick is made, the next must come within seven days.
And while Barton figures that the process does not have to start legally until the end of January, Bowers already made his choice this week: Tucson developer David Mehl. Barton said that now forces Fernandez to act by this coming Thursday or forfeit her own choice, something Barton said should not happen while the legality of the nominations of Loquvam and Wilson is being litigated.
So Barton is asking Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Janice Crawford to legally bar future appointments — and save Fernandez from having to make a pick at this point -- until the litigation is resolved.
The makeup of the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments itself has been the subject of questions of whether it has been skewed by Gov. Doug Ducey.
Until this year, none of the members of the panel, who are appointed by the governor, were Democrats.
In fact, the questions were raised about the two “independent'' nominees Ducey tapped last year, as one had previously been a Republican precinct committeewoman who had donated to GOP candidates and the other is married to the daughter of state Rep. Steve Pierce (R-Prescott) and lobbied for Ducey's Arizona Commerce Authority.
Only last July did the governor tap three Democrats for vacancies on the 16-member commission.