Evan Mecham

Evan Mecham (born May 12, 1924 in Duchesne , Utah , † February 21, 2008 in Phoenix , Arizona ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) and governor of the state of Arizona from 1987 to 1988 .

Early years and political advancement

Mecham attended Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University ) with a scholarship for agriculture , but he left school and served during World War II in the US Army Air Corps . He was shot down as a fighter pilot and was a prisoner of war for almost a month . He was later awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart . After the war, he went to Arizona State University ; however, he left three years later to open a dealership in Ajo , Arizona. He later moved to Glendale , where he bought another dealership. Mecham also owned several newspapers for a short time.

He decided to embark on a political career in 1952 when he unsuccessfully applied for a seat in the House of Representatives of Arizona for the electoral district of Ajo. It was only after moving to Glendale that he was elected to the Arizona Senate in 1960 . Two years later he tried to depose the US Senator Carl Hayden , because of the controversial US membership in the United Nations and the regulation of the Supreme Court to limit school prayers. Although he won the Republican primary , he received no support from Arizona's junior senator, Barry Goldwater , or anyone in his party, so he ultimately lost the general election. Mecham ran unsuccessfully for governor of Arizona in 1964, 1974, 1978 and 1982. It was only through his support of the Mormon Church and the John Birch Society , of which he was a member, as well as the split of the democratic camp by two candidates, that his fifth candidacy for the office of governor was successful with a relative majority of 40% of the vote, with tax breaks and promised political reform.

Governor of Arizona

Mecham was Governor of Arizona from January 6, 1987 to April 4, 1988. During his tenure, he opened a trade office in Taiwan to support exports of cotton worth $ 63 million . He also promoted legislation to give the governor the power to appoint judges pro tem to deal with drug-related problems. He also led an effort to increase the speed limit on rural highways from 55 to 65 mph. At the same time, he gained national attention by abolishing the paid Martin Luther King Day for state employees introduced by his predecessor in office. Civil rights protests followed, resulting in an economic boycott that over time became costly to Arizona. Mecham's public statements led to charges of racism . He also made enemies in the press, announced the appointment of candidates for public office whose backgrounds were precarious, and supported his poor relatives with government funds. By 1987, petitions were circulating for his removal as governor and Arizona state officials demanded his resignation. The spring of the following year, Mecham was charged with six recorded perjury violations and filing a false campaign report that included a $ 350,000 loan from a local contractor for his campaign. Although he was later acquitted by the courts, the Arizona House of Representatives resolved to indict him in February 1988 for obstruction of justice and illegal lending of state funds to his company. He was convicted and removed from office two months later by the Arizona Senate. Thereupon attempts were made to prevent him from running again for office by nominating candidates of their own. However, he ran again for governor in 1990 and for the US Senate in 1992, both times without success.

Another résumé

In 1995 he became chairman of the Constitutionalist Networking Center , a group that advocates the election of political candidates who are strict in interpreting the US Constitution . He has also been the author of several books, including Come Back America (1982) and Wrongful Impeachment (1999). A legacy of Mecham's impeachment process is the passage of an amendment to Arizona's constitution that requires a runoff election if no candidate wins a majority in a general election, as was the case with Mecham when he won the gubernatorial election in a three-way race.

Mecham died in February 2008 at the age of 83.

Web links

• Evan Mecham in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Evan Mecham in the National Governors Association (English)
• The Political Graveyard (English)