The third incarnation of Arizona’s voter-approved Independent Redistricting Commission will begin doing its official work Feb. 2, as the four partisan members — two Democrats and two Republicans — chose independent chair Erika Neuberg last week.
The IRC uses U.S. Census data and a list of criteria to draw Arizona’s congressional and legislative district maps.
The chair before Neuberg, Colleen Coyle Mathis, led the IRC beginning in 2011. Her term in the position was marked by a number of lawsuits and an attempt by then-Gov. Jan Brewer and a Republican state Senate majority to remove her from the position. She was removed, temporarily, until the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously returned her to the position of Chair.
The Show caught up with Mathis recently to relive some of her experience and provide insights on the IRC.
