By Paul Davenport
PHOENIX (AP) — A commission on Monday nominated three current judges to Gov. Jan Brewer for appointment to the Arizona Supreme Court under a system that the state’s voters could change later this year.
The Commission on Appellate Court Appointments nominated Court of Appeals Judges Ann Scott Timmer and Diane Johnsen and Douglas Rayes, the presiding criminal judge of Maricopa County Superior Court.
Brewer will choose from among the three nominees – the minimum number that the commission can recommend – when she makes her third appointment to the five-justice state high court.
Brewer is a Republican, as are Timmer and Rayes. Johnsen is a Democrat. The commission’s list has to include a mix of partisan affiliations.