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For a happy hour, forget the ungodly heat of Arizona and the abundance of Wackadoodles that have made it a thriving center of denialism and other political buffoonery.
With a proud history of treading its own path, the state boasts another, more profitable feature. When Democrat Katie Hobbs takes office Thursday, she will officially become Arizona’s fifth female governor. state.
(Hobbes took the oath of office on Monday, as required by the state constitution. The public ceremony was postponed to protect the New Year holidays.)
New Hampshire, second only to Arizona, has three women governors. A few states had two of her. Her 19 states, including cutting-edge California, have never had a female CEO.
So what about Arizona? something in the water? Or not enough?
Apparently the answer lies in the history of the state’s frontier, the meanness of two vulgar politicians, and perhaps most of all, the anomaly of making Secretary of State the next job when a governor leaves or gets a boost. It seems to be in a combination of inheritance lines. out.
Paradoxically, even a touch of sexism could have helped elevate women to the highest state positions.
From its earliest days as a state, Arizona has been less concerned with traditional gender roles than other states. Unlike the pompous East with its stereotypes and rigid norms, it was not uncommon to find women in positions of authority in the less settled West.
“For the most part, we’re talking about a cowboy culture where women literally controlled forts and ranches,” said Stacey Pearson, a Democratic strategist in Phoenix.
In fact, union membership in Arizona was delayed until 1912 in favor of women’s suffrage. The 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women’s suffrage, was not ratified until eight years later.
Still, while Arizona voters may have been accustomed to powerful women, it wasn’t until 1988 that they won the state’s first female governor, Democrat Rose Mofford. Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor, so when Republican Evan Mecham was tried and impeached for obstruction of justice and misuse of state funds, Secretary of State Mofford became governor.
This established a pattern of female secretaries of state holding top positions.
In 1997, Secretary of State Jane Hull became governor after Republican Fife Symington resigned after being convicted of fraud. Hull won his full term in 1998 and became one of his “Fabulous Five”. That year, she was among the women elected as Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, and Education Supervisor in Arizona.
It was the first and only time the state was run by an all-female executive.
Arizona Democratic Attorney. In 2002, General Janet Napolitano was elected her third female governor, and in 2009 Republican Secretary of State Jean Brewer became her fourth governor.
Each of those women has made a beating for gender equality.
Hobbs defeated Republican Kari Lake in November after the TV personality and Trump aspirant shamelessly parroted his election lies and rejected voters.
In the same vote, voters also approved a bill that would create a lieutenant governor’s office to be elected on a joint ticket with the governor of Arizona beginning in 2026.
“I think Arizona voters have simply gotten used to having a female chief executive officer,” said the UC system for nearly seven years before stepping down to teach public policy at UC Berkeley in 2020. said Napolitano, who led the
She wondered when California would break the “governor gender barrier.”
good question. Maybe 2026?
Mark Z. Barabak is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
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