Twenty-one Republicans in the Arizona Senate have voted to remove Colleen Mathis as chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission.

Mathis was afforded no opportunity to present a defense against the charges leveled against her by Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who was the acting governor because Gov. Jan Brewer was in New York to promote the launch of her book.

This was raw and ugly politics. Republicans didn't like the maps as they were drawn and had enough votes to do something about it, so they exercised their power.

Arizona Capitol Times has details here, including this key detail:

With Mathis’ removal, the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments — the body that chooses IRC nominees from the pool of applicants — has 30 days to choose three candidates to replace her. The four remaining commissioners will have two weeks after that to select a chair from that pool. If the two Democrats and two Republicans do not reach a decision in that timeframe, the appellate commission will select the chair itself.