New legislative maps drawn up

Mar. 2, 2004

The Arizona Republic

Working under protest, the Independent Redistricting Commission approved new legislative maps late Monday, doubling the number of competitive "swing" districts to eight.

A judge ruled in January that the previous maps were unconstitutional, saying that not enough of the state's 30 districts were competitive. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields gave the commission until Friday to redraw the map.

"These maps are promising," said Michael Mandell, attorney for the Arizona Minority Coalition, which backed the court challenge. "The fact that the commission was able to increase the number of competitive districts by 100 percent shows the judge was right in ruling that the commission failed to favor competitiveness."

The U.S. Justice Department must sign off on any new maps, and the commission is appealing the judge's ruling. Meanwhile, time is bleeding away for election officials to incorporate new maps.

But there is an increasing chance that lawmakers could run in reconfigured districts that pit incumbents against each other, and it could shift the balance of power at the Legislature more toward Democrats.

The new maps have 13 "safe" Republican-leaning districts, nine Democratic districts and eight competitive districts.

The competitive districts are evenly split, with Democrats and Republicans holding a slight advantage in four each.

The commission defined competitiveness as those where voter registration is within 7 percentage points between parties.

Republicans hold a dominant 39-20-1 majority in the House. The split is narrower in the Senate with Republicans holding a 17-13 advantage. Leadership in both houses is considered staunchly conservative. Statewide, Republicans hold a 6 percent registration advantage.

Four of the competitive districts are in Maricopa County, encompassing parts of central and west Phoenix, Tempe and West Valley communities like Glendale, El Mirage and Litchfield Park.