Today, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) voted to advance gerrymandered congressional and legislative maps after a deeply flawed process. In response, Kelly Burton, National Democratic Redistricting Committee President, released the following statement:

“The Independent Redistricting Commission’s final congressional and legislative maps are the product of a redistricting process plagued by political bias and unsound leadership. Since voters established the AIRC, Arizona’s maps improved in fairness and representation with each passing redistricting cycle. Due to Chair Erika Neuberg’s complete mishandling of the commission, that streak ends today. By running a flawed process that ignored substantial community input and good faith efforts for compromise, she neglected her duty to all Arizonans and produced an illegal map that does not reflect Arizona’s demographic reality.

“Throughout the entire commission, Chair Neuberg displayed an unmistakable pattern of Republican bias by continually sidelining the Democratic commissioners while consistently teaming up with her GOP colleagues to advance partisan maps. For months, she and her Republican colleagues ignored public concerns on representation for communities of interest, an insufficient number of competitive districts, and the lack of transparency on applying the VRA. 

“Independent commissions can be the gold standard for an impartial redistricting process; however, Chair Neuberg’s disastrous performance has shown that these commissions are only as fair as the people leading them. The AIRC must be held accountable, and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee refuses to stand by idly while Republicans force unfair maps on the entire state. We are reviewing all options and will continue to exhaust every opportunity for fair maps in Arizona.”

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