Sunday, September 24, 2006

Monday morning at 11 a.m. we will be at Janet Napolitano's anti-American 9/11 Memorial at Wesley Bolin Plaza, 17th Avenue and Washington, to discuss the need for this outrageous monument to come down.

In an election for Governor of Arizona today, 9/19/06, incumbent Democrat Janet Napolitano defeats Republican challenger Len Munsil, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KPNX-TV Phoenix. Today, 7 weeks to the 11/7/06 election, Napolitano leads by 16 points, 56% to 40%. Napolitano is up by 27 points among women and by 5 points among men. 91% of Democrats and 70% of Independents support Napolitano. 23% of Republicans cross over to vote for the Democrat. Munsil leads 3:1 among Arizona's Conservatives, who make up 35% of the electorate. But Napolitano's 50-point lead among Moderates and 69-point lead among Liberals is too much for Munsil to overcome. Napolitano is up by 19 points in Metro Phoenix, by 12 points in the Tucson area, and by 10 points in the rest of AZ. Munsil does best among the least educated voters. Napolitano does best among the most educated voters.(my emphasis)

He finally won in 1986, which opened an ominous chapter in Arizona history. Known for his outspoken conservative stance, he would be impeached from office after only a year. He would be known as the governor who canceled Martin Luther King Jr. Day, defended the word "pickaninny" as well as other racist remarks, bizarre paranoid behaviour such as declaring John Kolbe of the Phoenix Gazette a "non-person", and causing such turmoil as to prevent a Super Bowl from coming to town. Losses to the state approached $500 million, including $200 million from the NFL's decision to move the Super Bowl.

A recall petition was begun by those who disagreed with his political stances. The final number of people who signed was over twice what was needed in the time allotted. An election was scheduled by the Secretary of State, but calls for impeachment had already arisen due to illegalities he committed while campaigning for governor and while in office. Mecham was impeached for for allegedly concealing a large campaign contribution ($350,000), misuse of funds for a state loan of $80,000 to his Mecham Pontiac dealership, and obstruction of justice by ordering the head of the state police to refuse cooperation to the attorney general in a criminal investigation. Mecham had also been indicted criminally for allegedly concealing an illegal campaign contribution of $350,000 from controversial attorney Barry Wolfson, then being investigated by the attorney general along with his partner, Hubert V. Gregan, for an alleged arbitrage scam. Under the terms of the agreement Mecham had written Wolfson a letter stating the arrangement would remain confidential." Wolfson had wired the money into a special Mecham campaign bank account created solely for these transactions. That contribution, coming as it did in the final days of the campaign, had made Mecham's victory possible. Mecham was impeached February 9, 1988 just days after his state of the state address. He was found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and removed from office April 4, 1988.

Mecham was acquitted in the criminal trial on all counts. He made another attempt to win the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona in 1989, but he could not overcome his reputation or raise enough money for his campaign. Mecham is still a force in Arizona conservative politics and is still able to influence conservative voters despite his impeachment.

Resigned on September 7, 1997 after convicted of fraud September 3, 1997.

"Republican J. Fife Symington became governor in 1989, but he also encountered legal problems. In 1994 Symington reached a settlement in a lawsuit with the government over charges that as a director of a savings and loan association he had engaged in actions that violated conflict-of-interest laws. Symington paid no money under the settlement and maintained his innocence. Symington was indicted again by a federal grand jury in June 1996 on multiple counts of fraud and extortion. In September 1997 a federal jury convicted Symington on seven felony counts for repeatedly misstating his net worth to financial institutions to obtain loans. By Arizona state law he was forced to resign his position as governor because of the felony convictions. He was succeeded in office by Arizona's secretary of state, Republican Jane Dee Hull. Symington was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and five years' probation, but remained free pending the outcome of an appeal. In 1999 Symington's convictions were overturned by a federal appeals court because a juror had been improperly dismissed during his trial."