Evan Mecham
Encyclopedia
Evan Mecham was the 17th Governor of Arizona. A decorated veteran of World War II, Mecham earned his living as an automotive dealership owner and occasional newspaper publisher. Periodic runs for political office earned him a reputation as a perennial candidate
along with the nickname of "The Harold Stassen
of Arizona
" before he was elected governor, under the Republican
banner. As governor, Mecham was plagued by controversy and became the first U.S. governor to simultaneously face removal from office through impeachment
, a scheduled recall election
, and a felony
indictment. He was the first Arizona governor to be impeached.
Mecham served one term as a state senator
before beginning a string of unsuccessful runs for public office. His victory during the 1986 election began with a surprise win of the Republican nomination, followed by a split of the Democratic
party during the general election, resulting in a 3-way race. While governor, Mecham became known for statements and actions that were widely perceived as insensitive to minorities. Among these actions were the cancellation of the state's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, attributing high divorce rates to working women, and his defense of the word "pickaninny
", in describing African American children. In reaction to these events, a boycott
of Arizona was organized, damaging the state's tourism industry by the cancellation of multiple conventions. A rift between the governor and fellow Republicans in the Arizona Legislature
developed after a series of questionable political appointments prompted accusations of cronyism
against the governor.
Having served from January 6, 1987, to April 4, 1988, Mecham was removed from office following conviction in his impeachment trial of charges of the obstruction of justice
and the misuse of government funds. A later criminal trial acquitted Mecham of related charges. Following his removal from office, Mecham remained active in politics for nearly a decade. During this time, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention
and made his final runs for Governor and to the U.S. Senate
.
parents in Mountain Home, Utah
, and raised on his family's farm. The youngest of five boys, with one younger sister, he graduated as salutatorian
from Altamont
High School in 1942 and enrolled in Utah State Agricultural College
(now Utah State University) on an agricultural scholarship. Mecham left college and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps
in January 1943. He was trained as a P-38 Lightning
fighter pilot
before being transferred to England, where he flew P-51 Mustang
s. Mecham was shot down on March 7, 1945, while flying escort on a photo reconnaissance mission and was held as a prisoner of war
for 22 days. Mecham returned to the United States after recovering from injuries sustained in the lead-up to his capture, and received an Air Medal
and Purple Heart
for his service. Mecham married Florence Lambert in May 1945 and was discharged in December of the same year. Together, the couple raised seven children: Suzanne, Dennis, Christine, Eric, Teresa, Kyle and Lance.
As a result of his Mormon upbringing, Mecham developed and maintained a strong religious faith. He taught Sunday school
and served as a lay bishop
in the LDS church from 1957 to 1961. Part of his faith was that God would guide his actions and provide him the strength needed to endure. These beliefs were in part demonstrated during his time as Governor when one staff member reported hearing a conversation in Mecham's office before entering the room to find the Governor alone. Another staff member, Donna Carlson, reported that Mecham believed he had obtained office by divine right
and was thus not overly concerned about the feelings of others.
Mecham enrolled at Arizona State College
(now Arizona State University) in 1947 and majored in management and economics. In 1950, he left school 16 credit hours short of a degree to start Mecham Pontiac
and Rambler
in Ajo
. Mecham relocated to Glendale
in 1954 where he acquired and operated a Pontiac dealership until he sold it in March 1988. As a dealer, he appeared regularly in local television commercials and adopted his trademark motto of "If you can't deal with Mecham, you just can't deal." The Glendale dealership served as a base for other family-owned businesses, including Mecham Racing, Hauahaupan Mining Company and several auto dealerships in other states.
In addition to his auto dealership, Mecham owned several short-lived newspapers. One of his papers, the Evening American, was printed as a Phoenix
daily with maximum circulation of 27,000 before being becoming a weekly journal. As a newspaper publisher trying to break into the Phoenix and Tucson
markets, Mecham testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee on July 13, 1967. This testimony was in response to a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Hayden that provided partial immunity from the Sherman Antitrust Act
, allowing an economically healthy newspaper and one that was failing to form a joint venture combining advertising, printing, and distribution operations while maintaining separate reporting and editorial functions. While supporters of the bill claimed it would prevent newspaper failures, Mecham opposed the bill claiming "The major reason that this bill has been presented is because of the power of the press over the decisions of voters at the polls, and the desire of politicians to court the favor of those who control these monopolistic presses." He also added that "the tools of monopoly are in the common advertising and the common circulation department."
. After moving to Glendale, Mecham used the recognition gained from his television appearances to be elected to the Arizona Senate
during the 1960 election. After one term as a state senator, in 1962 Mecham attempted to capture the U.S. Senate
seat held by Carl Hayden, running on a platform demanding the United States withdraw from the United Nations and critical of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting school prayer
. The campaign first saw Mecham win a victory in the Republican primary over Stephen Shadegg, a former campaign manager for Barry Goldwater
, as Goldwater remained neutral. In the general election, Mecham received only tepid support from his party due to the value of Hayden's Senate seniority in passing legislation for the proposed Central Arizona Project. Mecham was defeated in the general election with 45% of the vote.
Following his campaign against Hayden, Mecham made an unsuccessful run for state chairman of the Republican party in 1963 and unsuccessful runs for governor of Arizona in 1964, 1974, 1978 and 1982. In these four runs, Mecham only gained the Republican nomination for the 1978 election. He developed a political doctrine supporting Jeffersonian democracy
and advocating elimination of income taxes, return of federal lands to state control, removing federal involvement in education, and putting welfare under state control. In 1982, Mecham wrote his first book, Come Back America, in which he discusses his earlier life and political views.
In his fifth try for governor, Mecham ran as a political outsider using his standard platform advocating political reform and tax relief. Mecham's opponent in the Republican primary, Burton Barr, had served as the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. Barr had the support of the state GOP leadership, including Barry Goldwater
and John McCain
. Mecham's core support came from fellow Mormons and the ultraconservative John Birch Society
. A sizable portion of the state's retired population joined this core support with Mecham's promises of tax cut
s. Because of Arizona's substantial transient population—only about half of the registered voters in 1986 were living in the state in 1980—Mecham's record of previous attempts to gain elected office was not widely known by the voters. The primary election
also saw the lowest voter turnout in nearly forty years due to unusual rain. Mecham overcame a fifteen-point deficit in the polls to win the Republican nomination with 54% of the vote. Barr failed to spend much of his campaign warchest in the primary, ending his campaign with over a million dollars on hand.
The general election of 1986 saw a three-way race for governor. The Democratic Party
had selected the state Superintendent of Public Education, Carolyn Warner, as its candidate. Dissatisfaction among the state's business and political leadership with both candidates allowed Bill Schultz, a real estate developer and Democrat who had withdrawn from the Democratic primary due to a family illness, to obtain enough petition
signatures to run as an independent
candidate. Six years earlier, Schultz had nearly defeated longtime U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was slow to endorse Mecham in this race, but did so officially at a dinner in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. During the campaign, the Arizona Automobile Dealers Association's ethics committee placed Mecham's dealership on probation for being chronically tardy in responding to complaints. The Democratic split caused by Schultz's reentry allowed his campaign to survive.
Mecham won the election with a 40% plurality while Warner and Schultz received 34% and 26% respectively.
that allowed for a US$63 million cotton export
contract and strengthening drug abuse
prevention efforts through legislation allowing the governor to appoint pro tem judges to deal with drug-related issues. The governor also spearheaded an effort within the National Governor's Association to raise the speed limit on rural highways from 55 mph (90 km/h) to 65 mph (105 km/h) and supported a legislative bill to prevent takeover of Arizona businesses. During Mecham's term of office, a US$157 million budget deficit was eliminated by reductions in state spending.
Despite these accomplishments, Mecham faced difficulties during much of his term. Because he had run as a political outsider, other Republicans only had party loyalty as a reason to follow the new governor. This lack of strong loyalty made it easy for his support to fall as a series of political gaffes damaged Mecham's popularity.
, after the state legislature had voted not to create the holiday. Following the creation of the holiday, the state Attorney General
's office issued an opinion that the paid holiday was illegal and threatened to sue
the incoming governor over the cost of the paid holiday, as it had not been approved by the legislature. Despite the issues of the legality of how the holiday was created, Mecham replied to comments from civil rights
activists and the black community after the cancellation by saying "King doesn't deserve a holiday." This was followed by him telling a group of black community leaders, "You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs."
In reaction to the cancellation, a protest march to the state capital was held on January 19, 1987, the day the holiday would have occurred. Conventions scheduled to be held in Arizona were canceled, and performer Stevie Wonder
announced a boycott
of the state. After several months of criticism, Mecham declared a non-paid holiday on the third Sunday in January. Reaction in the state to the non-paid holiday was generally poor.
by US$25,000 on employment compensation payments, an appointee for head of prison construction who had served prison time for armed robbery, and a former Marine, nominated as a state investigator, who had been court-martialled twice. Other political appointees who caused Mecham embarrassment were an education adviser, James Cooper, who told a legislative committee "If a student wants to say the world is flat, the teacher doesn't have the right to prove otherwise," and Sam Steiger
, the Governor's special assistant, who was charged with extortion
.
Mecham's legislative initiatives suffered due to his poor relations with the legislature. The governor's proposals to cut taxes were foiled when the legislature refused to cut the state's five per cent sales tax
by one percentage point. Much of the opposition to this tax cut was due to the governor having no proposals for which programs were to be affected by the reduction in tax revenues when the legislation was introduced, thus preventing individual lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be affected by the change. When Mecham later proposed a US$2.3 billion budget which attempted to reduce spending by cutting education funding and freezing state employee salaries, it was increased by US$200 million by the legislature. Mecham helped sour relations by vetoing some bills that had been passed by the legislature. After Senate Majority Leader Bob Usdane
saw a bill he had sponsored vetoed, he stated "I'd say that the cooperation was not great...but it's his prerogative". House Majority Leader Jim Ratliff, who had previously been a Mecham supporter, responded to one of his bills being vetoed with "My only message to the governor is, if he thinks that people advising him to veto [my bill] can help him run the state of Arizona better than I can, then let them."
" to describe black children, claimed that high divorce rates were caused by working women, claimed America is a Christian nation to a Jewish audience, and said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen got "round eyes" after being told of the number of golf courses in Arizona. In response to claims that he was a racist, Mecham said, "I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black; I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job." These and other statements only strengthened the allegations of racism made against the governor following the MLK day cancellation.
Mecham made an issue of his relationship with the press. Claiming that many of his problems were caused by media enemies he had made during previous runs for political office, the governor stated, "The Phoenix newspaper monopoly has had my political destruction as its goal for many years." The governor also claimed, "Every daily newspaper in the state endorsed a different candidate besides me. It's taking them a little time to get used to the idea that I was the people's choice." In response to his perceived mistreatment by the press, Mecham attempted to ban a journalist from his press conferences. John Kolbe, a political columnist for the Phoenix Gazette and brother of Congressman Jim Kolbe
, was declared a "non-person" after a February 25, 1987, column critical of Mecham's performance at the National Governors Association
. The Governor then refused to acknowledge the presence of the columnist or answer his questions at a press conference. Mecham left the conference after other reporters repeated Kolbe's questions. Another incident occurred during a televised event in which a reporter questioned the governor's integrity, prompting Mecham to reply, "Don't you ever ask me for a true statement again."
In September 1987, Mecham received further national attention when Doonesbury
began a six strip series of comics lampooning the governor. The first strip depicted Mecham saying, "My! What a cute little pickaninny!" while patting the head of a black child. Other strips satirized Mecham's tolerance of others, political appointments, and the state's loss of tourism business. For a short time, Mecham considered suing the strip's creator, but later said he had decided to leave the dispute "where it belongs—the funny pages
."
Throughout his administration, Mecham expressed concern about possible eavesdropping
on his private communications. A senior member of Mecham's staff broke his leg after falling through a false ceiling he had been crawling over, looking for covert listening device
s. A private investigator
was hired to sweep the governor's offices looking for bugs. The Governor was quoted as saying, "Whenever I'm in my house or my office, I always have a radio on. It keeps the lasers
out." After this was reported, a political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Steve Benson appeared in the Arizona Republic depicting the governor leaving his house outfitted for laser tag
. When asked about this by reporters, Attorney General Bob Corbin replied in amusement, "We don't have any ray gun pointed at him."
convention in Phoenix. In response to the cancellation, Mecham was quoted to say "Well, the N.B.A.. I guess they forget how many white people they get coming to watch them play."
Public perception of Mecham also slowed down economic development outside the tourism industry. Several corporations looking for locations to build new facilities, including US West
and SEMATECH
, expressed concern that the governor's statements might indicate problems in the local business climate. The executive director of the Phoenix Economic Growth Corp., Ioanna T. Morfessis, stated "When companies look at a state's environment they don't want anything that sounds to them like the state isn't working right." As the controversy surrounding the governor built even the business interests within the state abandoned support for him. As the chairman of the state chamber of commerce
, William L. Raby, observed "We usually back Republicans, but he's a different kind of Republican."
leading the way on October 9, 1987. As Mecham's problems continued to build, other Arizona political leaders, including Congressman Jon Kyl
and Senator John McCain
, made appeals for Mecham to step down, but the governor steadfastly refused to leave office.
s reading "Queer Ed Buck's Recall" after learning of the recall leader's sexual orientation. Mecham also mailed 25,000 letters during September to conservatives nationwide requesting that they move to Arizona and support him in case a recall election were held.
The recall tended to gather signatures in bursts, with most signatures occurring shortly after some action of the governor offended a segment of the state's voters. Anger toward the governor grew to the point that on August 15, Mecham's appearance at Sun Devil Stadium
before an exhibition NFL
game resulted in cries of "Recall! Recall!" combined with catcalls. By mid-September, signatures in excess of the minimum required had been collected at roadside locations despite the 115 °F (46 °C) afternoon heat of the Arizona summer. Signature collection continued for the full 120-day period allowed for by state law. On November 2, the recall committee turned in 32,401 petitions containing 388,988 signatures (more than the 343,913 votes Mecham had received during his election). After the Secretary of State
's office received the petitions, Mecham refused to waive verification of the signatures, forcing the petitions to be sent to the counties for verification. On January 26, 1988, Secretary of State Rose Mofford reported to Mecham that 301,032 signatures had been verified—a quantity sufficient to force a recall election. A recall election was scheduled for May 17, 1988, and former Republican Congressman John Rhodes
agreed to run against Mecham.
investigation into allegations that Mecham had loaned US$80,000 in public funds to help his auto dealership. Upon learning of the alleged Wolfson loan, the Speaker of Arizona's House of Representatives hired a special counsel to investigate the charges. The third and final impeachment charge involved an alleged death threat to a government official by Horace Lee Watkins, a Mecham appointee, in November 1987. When Mecham was informed of the threat, it was reported that he instructed the head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety
not to provide information on the incident to the Attorney General.
On January 8, 1988, the grand jury issued indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging three counts of perjury
, two counts of fraud, and one count of failing to report a campaign contribution. Mecham and his brother faced 22 years of prison if convicted on all charges.
The special counsel appointed by the Speaker of the House delivered his report to the House on January 15. Based on this report, the House began hearings into possible impeachment proceedings on January 19. These resulted in the passing of House Resolution 2002 on February 8 by a vote of 46 to 14. Upon Mecham's impeachment by the House, his powers as governor were suspended and Secretary of State Mofford became acting governor. Arizona has no lieutenant governor, so the secretary of state stands first in the order of succession
.
The Arizona State Senate convened as a court of impeachment on February 29. The charges against Mecham in the impeachment trial were obstruction of justice, filing a false statement, and misuse of government funds. The false filings charge was dropped by the Senate on a vote of 16 to 12. On April 4, the Senate convicted Mecham on obstruction of justice by a vote of 21 to 9, and on misusing government funds by a vote of 26 to 4. The Senate then voted 17 to 12 to disqualify Mecham from holding state office again, but this was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. Upon conviction, Mecham was removed from office and Rose Mofford became Governor of Arizona. The recall election was canceled by the Arizona Supreme Court
in a 4 to 1 ruling that the constitutionally mandated order of succession took precedence over the state's recall provisions.
Mecham's criminal trial started on June 2, and he was acquitted on all six felony charges on June 10.
and in 1990 he made an unsuccessful attempt to regain the Governor's office. In 1992, he made a run for the U.S. Senate
as an independent against incumbent John McCain, receiving 145,361 votes (about 10%). In 1995, Mecham became chairman of the Constitutionalist Networking Center, a group attempting to create a grassroots organization called the Constitutionally Unified Republic for Everybody (CURE). CURE advocated political candidates supporting a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution
. Mecham spent several years attempting to start a new newspaper, but was unable to secure sufficient financial backing. In 1999, Mecham wrote his third book, Wrongful Impeachment. Health issues, such as Alzheimer's disease
and Parkinson's disease
, first reported in 2004, forced Mecham's withdrawal from the public arena and his commitment to the dementia
unit of the Arizona State Veteran Home. Evan Mecham died on February 21, 2008. He is interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona
.
The canceled Martin Luther King Day served as a point of controversy for years following Mecham's removal from office. In 1989, an Arizona law making a MLK holiday by canceling the state's Columbus Day
holiday was challenged by two different groups, one opposed to the King holiday due to King's alleged communist ties and the other composed of Italian-Americans opposed to the removal of the Columbus Day holiday, and the new holiday was forced to undergo voter approval.
Neither of the two competing ballot initiatives during the 1990 election—one removing the Columbus Day holiday to make way for a new MLK day holiday, the other to add an extra paid holiday—managed to obtain a required majority even though 65% of voters supported at least one form of the holiday. In response to the voters' rejection of a King holiday, Arizona tourist officials estimated that concert and convention business worth US$190 million were canceled and the National Football League
moved Super Bowl XXVII
, worth an estimated US $150 million to the state, to Pasadena, California
. Another initiative in 1992 succeeded in creation of a statewide MLK day holiday. Afterwards, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XXX
to Arizona.
Arizona's election laws were affected by Mecham's legacy. In 1988, Arizona voters passed an initiative that amended the state constitution to require a runoff election when no candidate received a majority of the votes in a general election. This runoff requirement came into play during the 1990 election of Fife Symington
, who defeated Democratic candidate Terry Goddard
but fell just shy of a majority due to a minor independent candidate. The amendment requiring the runoff was repealed by the voters in 1992.
Perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...
along with the nickname of "The Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
" before he was elected governor, under the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
banner. As governor, Mecham was plagued by controversy and became the first U.S. governor to simultaneously face removal from office through impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
, a scheduled recall election
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
, and a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
indictment. He was the first Arizona governor to be impeached.
Mecham served one term as a state senator
Arizona Senate
The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, with each district having average populations of 219,859 . Members serve two-year terms with...
before beginning a string of unsuccessful runs for public office. His victory during the 1986 election began with a surprise win of the Republican nomination, followed by a split of the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
party during the general election, resulting in a 3-way race. While governor, Mecham became known for statements and actions that were widely perceived as insensitive to minorities. Among these actions were the cancellation of the state's Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, attributing high divorce rates to working women, and his defense of the word "pickaninny
Pickaninny
Pickaninny is a term in English which refers to children of black descent or a racial caricature thereof. It is a pidgin word form, which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino . In the Creole English of Surinam the word for a child is pikin ningre...
", in describing African American children. In reaction to these events, a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
of Arizona was organized, damaging the state's tourism industry by the cancellation of multiple conventions. A rift between the governor and fellow Republicans in the Arizona Legislature
Arizona Legislature
The Arizona Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. There are 60 Representatives and 30 Senators...
developed after a series of questionable political appointments prompted accusations of cronyism
Cronyism
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy....
against the governor.
Having served from January 6, 1987, to April 4, 1988, Mecham was removed from office following conviction in his impeachment trial of charges of the obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
and the misuse of government funds. A later criminal trial acquitted Mecham of related charges. Following his removal from office, Mecham remained active in politics for nearly a decade. During this time, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
and made his final runs for Governor and to the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
Early life and business career
Evan Mecham was born to MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
parents in Mountain Home, Utah
Mountain Home, Utah
Mountain Home is an unincorporated community in central Duchesne County, Utah, United States, adjacent to the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation. It lies along local roads north of State Route 87, north of the city of Duchesne, the county seat of Duchesne County. Its elevation is...
, and raised on his family's farm. The youngest of five boys, with one younger sister, he graduated as salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...
from Altamont
Altamont, Utah
Altamont is a town in Duchesne County, Utah, United States. The population was 178 at the 2000 census, an increase over the 1990 figure of 167.-History:...
High School in 1942 and enrolled in Utah State Agricultural College
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....
(now Utah State University) on an agricultural scholarship. Mecham left college and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
in January 1943. He was trained as a P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
fighter pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
before being transferred to England, where he flew P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
s. Mecham was shot down on March 7, 1945, while flying escort on a photo reconnaissance mission and was held as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
for 22 days. Mecham returned to the United States after recovering from injuries sustained in the lead-up to his capture, and received an Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
and Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
for his service. Mecham married Florence Lambert in May 1945 and was discharged in December of the same year. Together, the couple raised seven children: Suzanne, Dennis, Christine, Eric, Teresa, Kyle and Lance.
As a result of his Mormon upbringing, Mecham developed and maintained a strong religious faith. He taught Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
and served as a lay bishop
Bishop (Mormonism)
Bishop is the highest priesthood office of the Aaronic priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement. A bishop is usually the leader of a local congregation of church members. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs significantly from the role of bishops in other Christian denominations,...
in the LDS church from 1957 to 1961. Part of his faith was that God would guide his actions and provide him the strength needed to endure. These beliefs were in part demonstrated during his time as Governor when one staff member reported hearing a conversation in Mecham's office before entering the room to find the Governor alone. Another staff member, Donna Carlson, reported that Mecham believed he had obtained office by divine right
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
and was thus not overly concerned about the feelings of others.
Mecham enrolled at Arizona State College
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
(now Arizona State University) in 1947 and majored in management and economics. In 1950, he left school 16 credit hours short of a degree to start Mecham Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
and Rambler
Rambler (automobile)
Rambler was an automobile brand name used by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company between 1900 and 1914, then by its successor, Nash Motors from 1950 to 1954, and finally by Nash's successor, American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1969...
in Ajo
Ajo, Arizona
Ajo is a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,705 at the 2000 census. Ajo is located on State Route 85 just from the Mexican border. It is the closest community to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument....
. Mecham relocated to Glendale
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
in 1954 where he acquired and operated a Pontiac dealership until he sold it in March 1988. As a dealer, he appeared regularly in local television commercials and adopted his trademark motto of "If you can't deal with Mecham, you just can't deal." The Glendale dealership served as a base for other family-owned businesses, including Mecham Racing, Hauahaupan Mining Company and several auto dealerships in other states.
In addition to his auto dealership, Mecham owned several short-lived newspapers. One of his papers, the Evening American, was printed as a Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
daily with maximum circulation of 27,000 before being becoming a weekly journal. As a newspaper publisher trying to break into the Phoenix and Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
markets, Mecham testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee on July 13, 1967. This testimony was in response to a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Carl Hayden that provided partial immunity from the Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
, allowing an economically healthy newspaper and one that was failing to form a joint venture combining advertising, printing, and distribution operations while maintaining separate reporting and editorial functions. While supporters of the bill claimed it would prevent newspaper failures, Mecham opposed the bill claiming "The major reason that this bill has been presented is because of the power of the press over the decisions of voters at the polls, and the desire of politicians to court the favor of those who control these monopolistic presses." He also added that "the tools of monopoly are in the common advertising and the common circulation department."
Political career
Mecham first sought elected office in 1952, while still living in Ajo, with an unsuccessful run for the Arizona House of RepresentativesArizona House of Representatives
The Arizona House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its members are elected to two-year terms with a term limit of four consecutive terms...
. After moving to Glendale, Mecham used the recognition gained from his television appearances to be elected to the Arizona Senate
Arizona Senate
The Arizona Senate is part of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The Senate consists of 30 members representing an equal amount of constituencies across the state, with each district having average populations of 219,859 . Members serve two-year terms with...
during the 1960 election. After one term as a state senator, in 1962 Mecham attempted to capture the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat held by Carl Hayden, running on a platform demanding the United States withdraw from the United Nations and critical of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting school prayer
Engel v. Vitale
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools....
. The campaign first saw Mecham win a victory in the Republican primary over Stephen Shadegg, a former campaign manager for Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, as Goldwater remained neutral. In the general election, Mecham received only tepid support from his party due to the value of Hayden's Senate seniority in passing legislation for the proposed Central Arizona Project. Mecham was defeated in the general election with 45% of the vote.
Following his campaign against Hayden, Mecham made an unsuccessful run for state chairman of the Republican party in 1963 and unsuccessful runs for governor of Arizona in 1964, 1974, 1978 and 1982. In these four runs, Mecham only gained the Republican nomination for the 1978 election. He developed a political doctrine supporting Jeffersonian democracy
Jeffersonian democracy
Jeffersonian Democracy, so named after its leading advocate Thomas Jefferson, is a term used to describe one of two dominant political outlooks and movements in the United States from the 1790s to the 1820s. The term was commonly used to refer to the Democratic-Republican Party which Jefferson...
and advocating elimination of income taxes, return of federal lands to state control, removing federal involvement in education, and putting welfare under state control. In 1982, Mecham wrote his first book, Come Back America, in which he discusses his earlier life and political views.
In his fifth try for governor, Mecham ran as a political outsider using his standard platform advocating political reform and tax relief. Mecham's opponent in the Republican primary, Burton Barr, had served as the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. Barr had the support of the state GOP leadership, including Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
and John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
. Mecham's core support came from fellow Mormons and the ultraconservative John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
. A sizable portion of the state's retired population joined this core support with Mecham's promises of tax cut
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
s. Because of Arizona's substantial transient population—only about half of the registered voters in 1986 were living in the state in 1980—Mecham's record of previous attempts to gain elected office was not widely known by the voters. The primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
also saw the lowest voter turnout in nearly forty years due to unusual rain. Mecham overcame a fifteen-point deficit in the polls to win the Republican nomination with 54% of the vote. Barr failed to spend much of his campaign warchest in the primary, ending his campaign with over a million dollars on hand.
The general election of 1986 saw a three-way race for governor. The Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
had selected the state Superintendent of Public Education, Carolyn Warner, as its candidate. Dissatisfaction among the state's business and political leadership with both candidates allowed Bill Schultz, a real estate developer and Democrat who had withdrawn from the Democratic primary due to a family illness, to obtain enough petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
signatures to run as an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidate. Six years earlier, Schultz had nearly defeated longtime U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater was slow to endorse Mecham in this race, but did so officially at a dinner in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. During the campaign, the Arizona Automobile Dealers Association's ethics committee placed Mecham's dealership on probation for being chronically tardy in responding to complaints. The Democratic split caused by Schultz's reentry allowed his campaign to survive.
Mecham won the election with a 40% plurality while Warner and Schultz received 34% and 26% respectively.
Governorship
Mecham was inaugurated on January 6, 1987. Among his successes were the opening of a trade office in TaiwanRepublic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
that allowed for a US$63 million cotton export
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
contract and strengthening drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
prevention efforts through legislation allowing the governor to appoint pro tem judges to deal with drug-related issues. The governor also spearheaded an effort within the National Governor's Association to raise the speed limit on rural highways from 55 mph (90 km/h) to 65 mph (105 km/h) and supported a legislative bill to prevent takeover of Arizona businesses. During Mecham's term of office, a US$157 million budget deficit was eliminated by reductions in state spending.
Despite these accomplishments, Mecham faced difficulties during much of his term. Because he had run as a political outsider, other Republicans only had party loyalty as a reason to follow the new governor. This lack of strong loyalty made it easy for his support to fall as a series of political gaffes damaged Mecham's popularity.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Evan Mecham gained national attention several days after inauguration by fulfilling his campaign promise to cancel a paid Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday (MLK Day) for state employees. The holiday had been created in May 1986 by executive order from the previous governor, Bruce BabbittBruce Babbitt
Bruce Edward Babbitt , a Democrat, served as United States Secretary of the Interior and as the 16th governor of Arizona, from 1978 to 1987.-Biography:...
, after the state legislature had voted not to create the holiday. Following the creation of the holiday, the state Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
's office issued an opinion that the paid holiday was illegal and threatened to sue
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
the incoming governor over the cost of the paid holiday, as it had not been approved by the legislature. Despite the issues of the legality of how the holiday was created, Mecham replied to comments from civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activists and the black community after the cancellation by saying "King doesn't deserve a holiday." This was followed by him telling a group of black community leaders, "You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs."
In reaction to the cancellation, a protest march to the state capital was held on January 19, 1987, the day the holiday would have occurred. Conventions scheduled to be held in Arizona were canceled, and performer Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
announced a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
of the state. After several months of criticism, Mecham declared a non-paid holiday on the third Sunday in January. Reaction in the state to the non-paid holiday was generally poor.
Relations with legislature
Despite both houses of the state legislature being controlled by fellow Republicans, Mecham was on poor terms with state lawmakers. An initial irritant for the lawmakers were some nominations to executive offices by Mecham that were considered low quality and were made without consulting legislative leaders. Among these nominations was Alberto Rodriguez as superintendent of the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, while he was under investigation for murder. Other questionable nominations included the director of the Department of Revenue whose company was in arrearsArrears
Arrears is a legal term for the part of a debt that is overdue after missing one or more required payments. The amount of the arrears is the amount accrued from the date on which the first missed payment was due...
by US$25,000 on employment compensation payments, an appointee for head of prison construction who had served prison time for armed robbery, and a former Marine, nominated as a state investigator, who had been court-martialled twice. Other political appointees who caused Mecham embarrassment were an education adviser, James Cooper, who told a legislative committee "If a student wants to say the world is flat, the teacher doesn't have the right to prove otherwise," and Sam Steiger
Sam Steiger
Sam Steiger is an American politician, journalist, political pundit, and rancher. He has served five terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, two terms in the Arizona State Senate, and one term as mayor of Prescott, Arizona. Steiger has also made an unsuccessful run for the U.S...
, the Governor's special assistant, who was charged with extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
.
Mecham's legislative initiatives suffered due to his poor relations with the legislature. The governor's proposals to cut taxes were foiled when the legislature refused to cut the state's five per cent sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
by one percentage point. Much of the opposition to this tax cut was due to the governor having no proposals for which programs were to be affected by the reduction in tax revenues when the legislation was introduced, thus preventing individual lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be affected by the change. When Mecham later proposed a US$2.3 billion budget which attempted to reduce spending by cutting education funding and freezing state employee salaries, it was increased by US$200 million by the legislature. Mecham helped sour relations by vetoing some bills that had been passed by the legislature. After Senate Majority Leader Bob Usdane
Bob Usdane
Robert Bruce "Bob" Usdane was an American, Republican politician.Usdane served in the Arizona Senate from 1977 to 1991 and was President of the Arizona Senate. At the time of his death Usdane resided in Scottsdale, Arizona.-Notes:...
saw a bill he had sponsored vetoed, he stated "I'd say that the cooperation was not great...but it's his prerogative". House Majority Leader Jim Ratliff, who had previously been a Mecham supporter, responded to one of his bills being vetoed with "My only message to the governor is, if he thinks that people advising him to veto [my bill] can help him run the state of Arizona better than I can, then let them."
Other incidents
Besides the uproar caused by the MLK Day cancellation, Mecham committed other political faux pas. Claims of prejudice were made against Mecham after he defended the use of the word "pickaninnyPickaninny
Pickaninny is a term in English which refers to children of black descent or a racial caricature thereof. It is a pidgin word form, which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino . In the Creole English of Surinam the word for a child is pikin ningre...
" to describe black children, claimed that high divorce rates were caused by working women, claimed America is a Christian nation to a Jewish audience, and said a group of visiting Japanese businessmen got "round eyes" after being told of the number of golf courses in Arizona. In response to claims that he was a racist, Mecham said, "I've got black friends. I employ black people. I don't employ them because they are black; I employ them because they are the best people who applied for the cotton-picking job." These and other statements only strengthened the allegations of racism made against the governor following the MLK day cancellation.
Mecham made an issue of his relationship with the press. Claiming that many of his problems were caused by media enemies he had made during previous runs for political office, the governor stated, "The Phoenix newspaper monopoly has had my political destruction as its goal for many years." The governor also claimed, "Every daily newspaper in the state endorsed a different candidate besides me. It's taking them a little time to get used to the idea that I was the people's choice." In response to his perceived mistreatment by the press, Mecham attempted to ban a journalist from his press conferences. John Kolbe, a political columnist for the Phoenix Gazette and brother of Congressman Jim Kolbe
Jim Kolbe
James Thomas "Jim" Kolbe is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Arizona's 8th congressional district, serving 11 terms from 1985 to 2007.-Early life:...
, was declared a "non-person" after a February 25, 1987, column critical of Mecham's performance at the National Governors Association
National Governors Association
The National Governors Association , founded in 1908 as the National Governors' Conference, is funded primarily by state dues, federal grants and contracts and private contributions. NGA represents the governors of the fifty U.S. states and five U.S. territories The National Governors Association...
. The Governor then refused to acknowledge the presence of the columnist or answer his questions at a press conference. Mecham left the conference after other reporters repeated Kolbe's questions. Another incident occurred during a televised event in which a reporter questioned the governor's integrity, prompting Mecham to reply, "Don't you ever ask me for a true statement again."
In September 1987, Mecham received further national attention when Doonesbury
Doonesbury
Doonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
began a six strip series of comics lampooning the governor. The first strip depicted Mecham saying, "My! What a cute little pickaninny!" while patting the head of a black child. Other strips satirized Mecham's tolerance of others, political appointments, and the state's loss of tourism business. For a short time, Mecham considered suing the strip's creator, but later said he had decided to leave the dispute "where it belongs—the funny pages
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
."
Throughout his administration, Mecham expressed concern about possible eavesdropping
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
on his private communications. A senior member of Mecham's staff broke his leg after falling through a false ceiling he had been crawling over, looking for covert listening device
Covert listening device
A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and in police investigations.A bug does not have to be a device...
s. A private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
was hired to sweep the governor's offices looking for bugs. The Governor was quoted as saying, "Whenever I'm in my house or my office, I always have a radio on. It keeps the lasers
Laser microphone
The main type of laser microphone is a surveillance device that uses a laser beam to detect sound vibrations in a distant object. The object is typically inside a room where a conversation is taking place, and can be anything that can vibrate in response to the pressure waves created by noises...
out." After this was reported, a political cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Steve Benson appeared in the Arizona Republic depicting the governor leaving his house outfitted for laser tag
Laser tag
Laser tag is a team or individual sport or recreational activity where players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device. Infrared-sensitive targets are commonly worn by each player and are sometimes integrated within the arena in...
. When asked about this by reporters, Attorney General Bob Corbin replied in amusement, "We don't have any ray gun pointed at him."
Economic impact
Publicity over Mecham's faux pas led to the state experiencing adverse economic effects. Tourism suffered when groups and conventions transferred their meetings out of Arizona. In November 1987, a Phoenix-area convention bureau claimed that Mecham's policies on Martin Luther King Day had caused the cancellation of 45 conventions worth over US$25 million. One of these cancellations was a National Basketball AssociationNational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
convention in Phoenix. In response to the cancellation, Mecham was quoted to say "Well, the N.B.A.. I guess they forget how many white people they get coming to watch them play."
Public perception of Mecham also slowed down economic development outside the tourism industry. Several corporations looking for locations to build new facilities, including US West
US West
U S WEST, Inc. was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies , created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement , a case related to the antitrust breakup of AT&T...
and SEMATECH
SEMATECH
- Purpose :SEMATECH , a not-for-profit consortium, performs research and development to advance chip manufacturing. SEMATECH has broad engagement with various sectors of the R&D community, including chipmakers, equipment and material suppliers, universities, research institutes, and government...
, expressed concern that the governor's statements might indicate problems in the local business climate. The executive director of the Phoenix Economic Growth Corp., Ioanna T. Morfessis, stated "When companies look at a state's environment they don't want anything that sounds to them like the state isn't working right." As the controversy surrounding the governor built even the business interests within the state abandoned support for him. As the chairman of the state chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, William L. Raby, observed "We usually back Republicans, but he's a different kind of Republican."
Efforts to remove him
While criticism plagued Governor Mecham for most of his time in office, it was not until he had been in office for six months that his nominal allies began to break ranks with him. In July 1987, the same month the recall effort officially began, a group of thirteen rank-and-file Republican members of the state legislature met to discuss the governor's image problems. Eleven members of the group, dubbed the Dirty Dozen by the local press, issued a joint statement critical of many of the governor's efforts. Calls for the governor's resignation followed several months afterwards, with U.S. Senator Barry GoldwaterBarry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
leading the way on October 9, 1987. As Mecham's problems continued to build, other Arizona political leaders, including Congressman Jon Kyl
Jon Kyl
Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona and the Senate Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership. In 2010 he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for his persuasive role in the Senate.The son...
and Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, made appeals for Mecham to step down, but the governor steadfastly refused to leave office.
Recall drive
The Mecham Watchdog Committee was organized in January 1987 and changed its name to the Mecham Recall Committee in May 1987. By Arizona law, recall petitions could not be circulated until an official had been in office 180 days. These petitions needed a number of signatures equal to 25% of votes cast during the official's last election to cause a recall election. On July 6, 1987, the first day that petitions could be circulated, the recall committee began an effort to collect 350,000 signatures, significantly more than the 216,746 signatures required. The recall committee was led by Ed Buck, a registered Republican and gay businessman living in the Phoenix area. In response, Mecham claimed the recall supporters were "a band of homosexuals and dissident Democrats". Mecham supporters printed bumper stickerBumper sticker
A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles - although they are often stuck onto other objects...
s reading "Queer Ed Buck's Recall" after learning of the recall leader's sexual orientation. Mecham also mailed 25,000 letters during September to conservatives nationwide requesting that they move to Arizona and support him in case a recall election were held.
The recall tended to gather signatures in bursts, with most signatures occurring shortly after some action of the governor offended a segment of the state's voters. Anger toward the governor grew to the point that on August 15, Mecham's appearance at Sun Devil Stadium
Sun Devil Stadium
Sun Devil Stadium is an outdoor football stadium, located on the campus of Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, United States. The stadium's current seating capacity is 71,706 and the playing surface is natural grass...
before an exhibition NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
game resulted in cries of "Recall! Recall!" combined with catcalls. By mid-September, signatures in excess of the minimum required had been collected at roadside locations despite the 115 °F (46 °C) afternoon heat of the Arizona summer. Signature collection continued for the full 120-day period allowed for by state law. On November 2, the recall committee turned in 32,401 petitions containing 388,988 signatures (more than the 343,913 votes Mecham had received during his election). After the Secretary of State
Secretary of State (U.S. state government)
Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...
's office received the petitions, Mecham refused to waive verification of the signatures, forcing the petitions to be sent to the counties for verification. On January 26, 1988, Secretary of State Rose Mofford reported to Mecham that 301,032 signatures had been verified—a quantity sufficient to force a recall election. A recall election was scheduled for May 17, 1988, and former Republican Congressman John Rhodes
John Jacob Rhodes
John Jacob Rhodes, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Rhodes was elected as a U.S. Representative from the state of Arizona. He was preceded in office by Democrat John Murdock, and succeeded by fellow Republican John McCain...
agreed to run against Mecham.
Impeachment and criminal charges
On October 21, 1987, the Arizona Republic ran a story claiming that Mecham had failed to report a US$350,000 loan from local real-estate developer Barry Wolfson to Mecham's election campaign as required by campaign financing laws. These claims were added to a grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
investigation into allegations that Mecham had loaned US$80,000 in public funds to help his auto dealership. Upon learning of the alleged Wolfson loan, the Speaker of Arizona's House of Representatives hired a special counsel to investigate the charges. The third and final impeachment charge involved an alleged death threat to a government official by Horace Lee Watkins, a Mecham appointee, in November 1987. When Mecham was informed of the threat, it was reported that he instructed the head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety
Arizona Department of Public Safety
Arizona Department of Public Safety is a law enforcement agency with its usual focus being protection of all Arizona highways. The current Director is Robert C. Halliday, a previously retired DPS commander, who began his 5-year term in February 2010...
not to provide information on the incident to the Attorney General.
On January 8, 1988, the grand jury issued indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging three counts of perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, two counts of fraud, and one count of failing to report a campaign contribution. Mecham and his brother faced 22 years of prison if convicted on all charges.
The special counsel appointed by the Speaker of the House delivered his report to the House on January 15. Based on this report, the House began hearings into possible impeachment proceedings on January 19. These resulted in the passing of House Resolution 2002 on February 8 by a vote of 46 to 14. Upon Mecham's impeachment by the House, his powers as governor were suspended and Secretary of State Mofford became acting governor. Arizona has no lieutenant governor, so the secretary of state stands first in the order of succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
.
The Arizona State Senate convened as a court of impeachment on February 29. The charges against Mecham in the impeachment trial were obstruction of justice, filing a false statement, and misuse of government funds. The false filings charge was dropped by the Senate on a vote of 16 to 12. On April 4, the Senate convicted Mecham on obstruction of justice by a vote of 21 to 9, and on misusing government funds by a vote of 26 to 4. The Senate then voted 17 to 12 to disqualify Mecham from holding state office again, but this was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. Upon conviction, Mecham was removed from office and Rose Mofford became Governor of Arizona. The recall election was canceled by the Arizona Supreme Court
Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. It consists of a Chief Justice, a Vice Chief Justice, and three associate justices. Each justice is appointed by the governor of Arizona from a list recommended by a bipartisan commission. Justices stand for...
in a 4 to 1 ruling that the constitutionally mandated order of succession took precedence over the state's recall provisions.
Mecham's criminal trial started on June 2, and he was acquitted on all six felony charges on June 10.
After office
Following his removal from office and acquittal in his criminal trial, Mecham remained active in politics for several years. Mecham served as an at-large delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention1988 Republican National Convention
The 1988 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 15 to August 18, 1988. It was the second time that a major party held its conclave in one of the five states known as the Deep South, coming on the...
and in 1990 he made an unsuccessful attempt to regain the Governor's office. In 1992, he made a run for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate elections, 1992
The 1992 United States Senate election was an election for the United States Senate in which the victory of Bill Clinton in the presidential election was not accompanied by major Democratic gains in the Senate....
as an independent against incumbent John McCain, receiving 145,361 votes (about 10%). In 1995, Mecham became chairman of the Constitutionalist Networking Center, a group attempting to create a grassroots organization called the Constitutionally Unified Republic for Everybody (CURE). CURE advocated political candidates supporting a strict interpretation of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. Mecham spent several years attempting to start a new newspaper, but was unable to secure sufficient financial backing. In 1999, Mecham wrote his third book, Wrongful Impeachment. Health issues, such as Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, first reported in 2004, forced Mecham's withdrawal from the public arena and his commitment to the dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
unit of the Arizona State Veteran Home. Evan Mecham died on February 21, 2008. He is interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona
National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona
National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2005, had 43,672 interments.-History:...
.
The canceled Martin Luther King Day served as a point of controversy for years following Mecham's removal from office. In 1989, an Arizona law making a MLK holiday by canceling the state's Columbus Day
Columbus Day
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
holiday was challenged by two different groups, one opposed to the King holiday due to King's alleged communist ties and the other composed of Italian-Americans opposed to the removal of the Columbus Day holiday, and the new holiday was forced to undergo voter approval.
Neither of the two competing ballot initiatives during the 1990 election—one removing the Columbus Day holiday to make way for a new MLK day holiday, the other to add an extra paid holiday—managed to obtain a required majority even though 65% of voters supported at least one form of the holiday. In response to the voters' rejection of a King holiday, Arizona tourist officials estimated that concert and convention business worth US$190 million were canceled and the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
moved Super Bowl XXVII
Super Bowl XXVII
Super Bowl XXVII was a football game played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1992 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football Conference champion...
, worth an estimated US $150 million to the state, to Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
. Another initiative in 1992 succeeded in creation of a statewide MLK day holiday. Afterwards, the NFL awarded Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...
to Arizona.
Arizona's election laws were affected by Mecham's legacy. In 1988, Arizona voters passed an initiative that amended the state constitution to require a runoff election when no candidate received a majority of the votes in a general election. This runoff requirement came into play during the 1990 election of Fife Symington
Fife Symington III
John Fife Symington III is an American businessman and the former Governor of the U.S. state of Arizona from 1991 until his resignation in 1997.-Background:...
, who defeated Democratic candidate Terry Goddard
Terry Goddard
Samuel Pearson "Terry" Goddard III was the Attorney General of Arizona, from 2003 to 2011, who also served as Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona from 1984 to 1990....
but fell just shy of a majority due to a minor independent candidate. The amendment requiring the runoff was repealed by the voters in 1992.
Further reading
- Ronald J. Bellus (1988), "Silence Cannot be Misquoted".
- “Arizona rejects 'Marx Brothers' rule”, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, October 22, 1987. }
External links
- Governor Evan Mecham from Arizona History Reference Guides
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday from Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.
- Materials regarding the impeachment of Governor Evan Mecham Ken Smith