Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano
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25^th Governor of Arizona
Term of office: January 2003 – present
Predecessor:	Jane Dee Hull
Successor:	Incumbent
Born:	November 29, 1957 New York City, New York
Political party:	Democratic
Profession:	Lawyer
Religion:	Methodist

Janet Napolitano (b. November 29, 1957) is the current governor of the U.S. state of Arizona, originally elected in 2002, and re-elected in 2006. She is Arizona's third female governor, and the first female to win re-election. Born in New York City of partial Italian heritage (on her father's side), and raised a Methodist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, she graduated from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, where she won a Truman Scholarship, and then from the University of Virginia School of Law (Juris Doctor). Napolitano is a member of the Democratic Party. Her early professional career was as a Phoenix-area prosecuting attorney as a U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.

In November 2005, Time magazine named her one of the five best governors in the U.S. In February 2006, TheWhiteHouseProject.org [1] named Janet Napolitano one of its "8 in '08", a group of eight female politicians who could possibly run and/or be elected president in 2008.

In May 2006, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree presented by Peter Likins, president of the University of Arizona, on behalf of Toni Massaro, dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law.

1 Political career
2 Administration policies
3 Quotes
4 2006 re-election campaign
- 4.1 Pre-election polling
- 4.2 2006 Election
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
8 Categories

Political career

In 1993, Napolitano was appointed by President Bill Clinton as United States attorney for the District of Arizona. As U.S. attorney, she was heavily involved in the investigation of Michael Fortier of Kingman, Arizona, in connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. She ran for and won the position of state attorney general in 1998. Her tenure focused on consumer protection issues and improving general law enforcement. Later on, Napolitano was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent a mastectomy.

She won the gubernatorial election of 2002 with 46 percent of the vote, succeeding Republican Jane Dee Hull and defeating her Republican opponent, former congressman Matt Salmon, who received 45 percent of the vote. Her strongest electoral support came from low-income, women, and Latino voters. Napolitano was the first female US governor to succeed another.

Some initially considered Napolitano to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election but Sen. John Edwards was selected instead. She appeared at Kerry campaign events and spoke out against passage of Proposition 200, an initiative to limit state benefits to illegal immigrants that would go on to be approved by voters.

On major issues, Napolitano supports legal abortion and the death penalty for serious crimes. In early 2005 she proposed that a possible future vote on a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage be held that year instead of in 2006, citing her questioning of the validity of such a measure given that it was already banned under state law. This move instigated controversy with conservative legal groups planning to campaign for the measure.

She was the recruitment chair for the Democratic Governors Association for 2005-2006. She is also the current chair of the National Governors Association, the first female governor and first governor of Arizona ever to serve in that position.

In November, 2006, Napolitano swept to victory, defeating Republican Len Munsil, a Christian conservative, by a nearly 2-1 ratio. Prominent Arizona Republicans opted to not challenge her in the election.

Administration policies

As governor, Napolitano has promoted all-day kindergarten, restricted water usage, and increased public health spending. She supports the development of biotechnology and public-private collaboration on related projects, especially within the state university system. She also supports universal health care.

Arizona's security has been a prominent theme in light of recent events affecting her administration.^{[citation needed]} In March 2003, amidst fears of a terrorist attack in Arizona following the Iraq war, Napolitano dispersed US National Guard troops to the Palo Verde nuclear power plant facility west of Phoenix. Continued and growing illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border has led her to increase efforts in this area; however she has vetoed much of the border protection legislation sent to her. In August 2005, Napolitano declared a state of emergency effective in Arizona's Mexican border counties, following a similar declaration by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Neither of these efforts have seen much result and both are largely considered to be political grandstanding.^{[citation needed]} The continuing statewide drought, reforming the troubled Child Protective Services system, and the January 2004 hostage crisis at Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis (the longest in US history) have presented serious challenges to her as well.

Napolitano's usual position on budget issues has been to defend education and health expenditures as "investing in what matters," citing the benefits of economic growth and some improvements in Arizona's generally low social indicators. Faced with a conservative State Legislature, she issued her 115^th veto on June 6, 2006, breaking the record previously held by former Governor Bruce Babbitt. By the end of June 2006 her total had grown to 127 vetoes.^[1]

Napolitano is a supporter of the Arizona 9/11 Memorial located in Phoenix adjacent to the State Capitol. The memorial consists of concentric rings that have written statements inscribed in them that, with sunlight, reflect on the pavement below. The memorial has raised controversy due to charges that it is political in context.

Quotes

"Renewing our schools, building a better economy, being good stewards of our water and our land, increasing the availability of health care and improving the security of our state: these are my goals and dreams for Arizona." (State of the State Address, January 10, 2005)

2006 re-election campaign

Pre-election polling

Cronkite-Eight - October 24, 2006, registered voters, +/-3% [2]

Polls	%
Janet Napolitano	67%
Len Munsil	24%
Barry Hess	1%

Zogby/Wall Street Journal - September 19-September 25, 2006, likely voters, +/-4% [3]

Polls	%
Janet Napolitano	50.4%
Len Munsil	41
Barry Hess	4%

Cronkite-Eight - September 21-24, 2006, registered voters, +/-3% [4]

Polls	%
Janet Napolitano	64%
Len Munsil	28%
Barry Hess	2%

Rasmussen Reports - September 18, 2006, likely voters [5]

Polls	%
Janet Napolitano	56%
Len Munsil	38%

Survey USA - September 16-18, 2006, likely voters, +/-4.6% [6]

Polls	%
Janet Napolitano	56%
Len Munsil	40%

2006 Election

Napolitano turned back a challenge from Republican Len Munsil, becoming the first female Arizona governor in history to win re-election. [7]

References

^ Benson, Matthew, Marcum, Karissa. "Governor vetoes 9 of final 28 bills", Arizona Republic, 2006-06-29.

External links

Preceded by: Grant Woods	Attorney General of Arizona 1999–2003	Succeeded by: Terry Goddard
Preceded by: Jane Dee Hull	Governor of Arizona 2003 – present	Incumbent

Governors of Arizona <td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> </td>
Hunt • Campbell • Hunt • Campbell • Hunt • Phillips • Hunt • Moeur • Stanford • Jones • Osborn • Garvey • Pyle • McFarland • Fannin • Goddard • Williams • Castro • Bolin • Babbitt • Mecham • Mofford • Symington • Hull • Napolitano