This afternoon, Arizona Senate Minority Leader David Schapira (D-LD17) appointed Tucson attorney Linda McNulty, a Democrat, to be the fourth member of the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission for the 2011 cycle.
McNulty, a 1988 graduate of the University of Arizona Law School, is a partner in the law firm Lewis and Roca. Much of her practice focuses on real estate and natural resources law. She holds a rating of AV/Preeminent with the legal profession peer review firm Martindale Hubbell.
She also graduated from the University of Rochester in 1971 with a B.S. in Nursing.
Among her civic activities, McNulty has been on the board of directors of the Wilderness Land Trust since 2005 and since 2008 has served as a director of the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority.
On being a redistricting commissioner, Ms. McNulty stated, “If citizen participation is the essence of democracy and voting and equal representation are among the core principles on which the United States was established, a fair and balanced process for determining voting districts is foundational to preserving and enhancing government of the people, by the people and for the people. The absence of such a process may negatively impact meaningful campaigning, electoral competition, fair and equal representation, the quality of elected officials’ representation of their constituents, citizen confidence, voter participation and government accountability generally.”
Kudos to Sen. Schapira for appointing Linda McNulty.
Next up, the first four appointed commissioners will meet at Secretary of State Ken Bennett’s office to select the fifth commissioner, an Independent who will serve as chair of the commission during this cycle. As of yesterday, Bennett’s office said that meeting is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday afternoon, February 24.
A question also remains as to whether a lawsuit will be filed to challenge the appointment of Tucson Republican Richard Stertz. Stertz was appointed last week by Senate President Russell Pearce in spite of evidence uncovered that Stertz falsified his application by omitting material facts related to tax liens, overdue taxes and court judgments.
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