Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

If could get any crazier, I’d like to see it. Arizona’s decennial “independent” redistricting process has been nothing short of spectacular for journalists. The intrigue, outrage and paranoia took hold quickly and the twists and turns have continued without stop.

Attorney General Tom Horne will no longer be able to pursue an open meeting law investigation into members of the Independent Redistricting Commission, as a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled the attorney general is saddled with an existing conflict of interest.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge today struck from the 2012 ballot a measure that would have ended Arizona’s system of publicly financed political campaigns.

A pending ballot referendum that would allow voters to decide the fate of publicly funded political campaigns in Arizona could be deemed illegal by a county judge, but a former lawmaker who has set his sights on Arizona’s Clean Elections system promises voters will have the last word.

Republicans are really mad about redistricting. An approved draft (as in preliminary) congressional map strengthens the chances of Democratic incumbents Gabby Giffords and Raul Grijalva, both of whom narrowly won re-election last year. Republican freshman David Schweikert and Ben Quayle, on the other hand, appear to be on a collision course and could face each other in the primary in 2012. And Republicans have argued that the map, which has two rural districts, runs counter to the required constitutional requirement of respecting communities of interest.

Following a vote by the Independent Redistricting Commission to authorize the hiring of additional lawyers, IRC Chairwoman Colleen Mathis has secured the services of former Arizona U.S. Attorney General Paul Charlton.

Former Attorney General Terry Goddard this weekend accused now AG Tom Horne of taking part in a Republican “intimidation campaign” against the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The announcement was odd, and so was the timing – given that Horne’s investigation has been ongoing for more than a month.

If Republican Attorney General Tom Horne would be willing to meet the Independent Redistricting Commission halfway, a Democrat on the panel said he would be prone to reconsidering his stance that he and his colleagues should resist cooperating with an investigation Horne launched last month.

More than a month after Attorney General Tom Horne announced an investigation into possible open meeting and procurement law violations by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, his attorneys will finally get to conduct their first interview with a commissioner Wednesday morning.

Last week, East Valley investor Wil Cardon announced he’d challenge Congressman Jeff Flake for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate in what could be described as the Political Consultant Employment Act of 2011. In these times, a complete lack of experience is somehow touted as a benefit when it comes to running for political office. With that in mind, Cardon seems to be the man for the job. His political experience appears largely limited to making political contributions … to Flake.