2 new Democrats appointed to Arizona Legislature as some raise concerns about lack of women

The Arizona Legislature is almost back to full capacity after Pima County supervisors filled two of the last three seats left vacant in a year marked by lawmaker departures.

The five-member panel, which has a 4-1 Democratic majority, voted to appoint real estate investor Morgan Abraham as the representative for Legislative District 10, which includes both Tucson and unincorporated areas around the city, including the historic Casas Adobes community.

The supervisors appointed Christopher Mathis as the new representative for Legislative District 9 after rejecting Anakarina Rodriguez, the lone female candidate for the district. The one Republican on the Board of Supervisors abstained on all the votes. The appointees replace Democrats who resigned from the House.

The board's actions bring the total number of state representatives and senators up to 89 in a year in which an unusually high number have left. Mathis will replace Randy Friese, who resigned from the House last month, while Abraham will replace Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, who resigned in October after she was appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Kirsten Engel, who's running for Congress.

Abraham has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Arizona and formerly served as head of the city of Tucson's Metropolitan Housing Commission. He's made headlines in southern Arizona for buying the dilapidated Spanish Trail Motel in Tucson and turning it into affordable apartments with business partner Kevin Volk.

He was the chair of the committee that opposed Proposition 123, a plan backed by Gov. Doug Ducey that tapped into the State Land Trust to provide additional school funding. Voters narrowly approved the measure in May 2016.

Mathis is a health care attorney and professor of practice at the University of Arizona who has two degrees from Harvard University. He's also the husband of Colleen Coyle Mathis, the former independent chair of Arizona's 2011 redistricting commission who was reinstated to her job by the state Supreme Court after former Gov. Jan Brewer and Senate Republicans, who had accused her of Democratic bias, improperly had her removed.

Supervisor Rex Scott said the Legislature needs Mathis' legal expertise because Democrats have lost, or will lose, several members who are lawyers.

Concern about gender of appointees

Still, that both appointees are men compelled Supervisor Adelita Grijalva to express concerns before voting on the candidates.

The Pima County Democratic Party presented the board with three candidates for the open district seats, including one woman for each. Grijalva said she wanted the panel to choose Mitzi Cowell, a Tucson musician and Democratic activist.

"She would contribute well" with her "diversity of opinion and thought," Grijalva said before voting against Abraham.

Grijalva also wanted to appoint community organizer Anakarina Rodriguez to the Legislative District 9 seat. As a longtime coordinator with Mi Familia Vota who grew up in Arizona's borderland, Rodriguez's passion for advocacy should go to the Legislature, Grijalva said.

Supervisor Matt Heinz, a former state representative, agreed with Grijalva.

"This not a great time to reduce the number of women in our Legislature," Heinz said, noting the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court could soon overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal in all 50 states. "It's incredibly important when the Legislature starts talking about taking away privacy rights."

He added that "this is a more gender-based argument than I'd normally feel comfortable with articulating."

Heinz then cast the deciding vote for Mathis after the board rejected Rodriguez.

Gender concerns also arose last month with the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, which appointed Brian Fernandez to replace his mother, Charlene Fernandez, as the state's Legislative District 4 representative. Yuma Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi was the sole vote against Fernandez, saying she wanted "to replace a woman with a woman."

Mathis didn't return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday; Abraham didn't respond to an email.

In a released statement from the Arizona House Democrats, both men said they were honored by the appointments.

"They both provide a unique set of skills and insights that will help our caucus lead on important issues such as affordable housing and elder law," said House Democratic Leader Reginald Bolding, D-Laveen.

Sea of new faces at the Legislature

Following last month's resignation of Rep. Diego Rodriguez, D-Phoenix, who's running for state attorney general, one more House seat remains to be filled — barring more lawmaker resignations this year.

The next legislative session will include at least 12 appointed lawmakers who will serve in their positions until the end of 2022, or longer if voters elect them in November. Two lawmakers moved from House to Senate, while the rest are new to the Legislature.

So far this year on the Democratic side, three representatives took new jobs, two are running for higher office, and one left for personal reasons. Two others left their House seats to fill vacancies in the Senate, and one resigned after he was indicted on charges of child sex abuse.

As for Republicans, one died, and two resigned for personal reasons. The law requires the board of supervisors from the lawmakers' home counties to appoint candidates from the same political party.

Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on Twitter @raystern.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Democrats Morgan Abraham and Christopher Mathis appointed to Legislature