Arizona’s latest proposed redistricted maps are shaking things up—even in Tombstone, Ariz.

It happens every 10 years: new census data forces the state to redraw the boundaries of their state and legislative districts to reflect the changes in population.

For Tombstone’s national representation, congressional District 8, held by Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, would be no more. Tombstone is smack in the middle of a brand-new district that stretches north to Safford, south to Sierra Vista, all the way to a corner of the southeasterly border with Mexico, east to the border with New Mexico, and west to as far as Vail.

But that could all change pending a shakeup in the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

What do these new lines mean? Probably a new congressional representative.

In the statehouse, current Tombstone Rep. Peggy Judd thinks that the current representatives in southern Arizona will likely just reshuffle, but not radically change, though she’s not sure what she’ll do and is considering running for another office.

The redistricting commission came about after voters approved Proposition 106 in 2000. Arizona is one of six states that need approval of their districts from the U.S. Justice Department to make sure it complies with the Voting Rights Act. The maps need to be sent by the beginning of the new year in order for them to be approved in time for the November 2012 election.

But commission officials said the maps could be in jeopardy since Gov. Jan Brewer fired Chair Colleen Mathis on Nov. 2, and the Arizona Legislature impeached her for alleged neglect of duty and gross misconduct.

The Arizona State Supreme Court could rule on Mathis’s firing soon, said Stewart Robinson, commission spokesman.

If Mathis is reinstated, “we'll move very quickly to get final maps done,” Robinson said. But if she’s confirmed fired, “Then all that’s a wash, the commission obviously could not do anything to finalize the draft maps until the new person is picked. That process could take up to two months,” Robinson said.

No one knows if that will leave the Justice Department enough time to finalize the maps.

“We're already nearing the end of the year. There’s a good chance that at some point the whole thing could get thrown into the federal courts,” Robinson said. “The courts would not have to go by the draft maps that the commission did and they wouldn’t have to take public input.”

Rep. Judd, a Republican, said she thinks the redistricting commission has done a poor job, and would be concerned if there was a risk of the federal government intervening.

But, she said, “If the federal government does it they probably couldn’t do any worse.”

Judd conceded she worked in “one of the most gerrymandered districts,” and knew she’d lose a large portion of her district, but she’s concerned about her constituent’s representation in the border region, part of which is put in a different district. “I’m really concerned about Bisbee, Douglas, and Nogales. I hate giving them up to somebody that maybe won’t care, or maybe won’t have the same passion,” Judd said.

Those communities, she said, might not get the same voice.

But Robinson says it’s a lot more difficult than keeping Cochise County in one district or keeping things the way they were. He added that some changes, like the breakdown of congressional districts into three border regions, was in an attempt to get more representation.

“There are a lot people who don't realize the many things commissioners have to balance. Everybody would like compact, modular districts. Ideally, Arizona could be generally squarished,” Robinson said. “You have a lot of competing criteria you have to take in.”

Mayor Jack Henderson said he’s not too concerned about the new maps when it comes to what this means for Tombstone. “The redistricting still kind of leaves us where we were at for Tombstone, it isn’t much of a change.”