By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/East Valley Tribune
Bested 5-4 in last year’s congressional races, Republican legislative leaders want a federal court to immediately give them the power to draw the lines for 2014.
In new court filings Friday, attorneys for lawmakers point out the U.S. Constitution gives the Legislature the authority to decide the “times, places and manner” of congressional elections. They contend that overrides the 2000 decision by voters to give that power, along with drawing legislative boundaries, to the five-member Independent Redistricting Commission.
With candidates now starting to explore congressional races — including current state House Speaker Andy Tobin — the lawyers want a three-judge panel to bar use of the lines the commission adopted for the 2012 race. That’s the one where Democrats took five of the state’s nine congressional seats.
