Public domain image via Pxfuel.com
By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge will hear arguments Thursday morning over whether to temporarily halt the selection process for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission during a lawsuit seeking to disqualify two finalists for the panel.
House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, and Senate Minority Leader David Bradley, D-Tucson, sued the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments on Friday to strike two of the five independent candidates for the position of AIRC chair. They argued that attorney Thomas Loquvam is ineligible because he is a registered lobbyist with the Corporation Commission, and that Flagstaff gun store owner Robert Wilson isn’t truly an independent, though he appears to meet all the legal criteria for serving as an independent.
The speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives makes the first selection to the redistricting commission, followed by the House minority leader, president of the state Senate and the Senate minority leader. Speaker Rusty Bowers selected Tucson developer David Mehl, a Republican, as the first member of the IRC on Oct. 22, which started a seven-day clock for Fernandez to make her pick.
