Janet Napolitano

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Janet Napolitano

25^th Governor of Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 2003
Preceded by	Jane Dee Hull
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	November 29, 1957 (age 49) New York City, New York
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	single
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Methodist

Janet Georgia 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. 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.

1 Early life
2 Political career
3 Administration policies
4 Quotes
5 2006 re-election
6 See also
7 Footnotes
8 External links

[edit] Early life

Napolitano was born in New York City to Jane Marie Winer and Leonard Michael Napolitano, who was the Dean of the University of New Mexico College of Medicine.^[2] She has partial Italian heritage on her father's side and was 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 May 2006, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree presented by Peter Likins, former president of the University of Arizona, on behalf of Toni Massaro, dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law.

[edit] Political career

In 1991, while a partner with the private Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, Napolitano served as attorney for Anita Hill. Anita Hill testified in the U.S. Senate that then U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas had addressed her inappropriately ten years earlier when she was his subordinate at the federal EEOC.

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.

[edit] 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.^[3]

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.

[edit] 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)

[edit] 2006 re-election

2006 gubernatorial election, Arizona
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Janet Napolitano (incumbent)	959,830	62.6	+16.4
	Republican	Len Munsil	543,528	35.4	-9.8
	Libertarian	Barry Hess	30,268	2.0	+0.3
		Write-ins	19	0.0	0
Majority			416,302	27.2
Turnout			1,533,645
	Democratic hold		Swing

[edit] See also

Arizona gubernatorial election, 2006
AHCCCS: Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (state Medicaid program)
AIMS: Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (state standardized test for high school students)
Protect Arizona Now: Proposition 200
Arizona-Mexico Commission
Matt Salmon
Western Governors University Napolitano is one of two current governors on the WGU board.

[edit] Footnotes

^ http://thewhitehouseproject.org/v2/press/2006/February/20060216-8for08pressrel.html
^ http://www.wargs.com/political/napolitano.html
^ Benson, Matthew, Marcum, Karissa. "Governor vetoes 9 of final 28 bills", Arizona Republic, 2006-06-29.

David Brock, "The Real Anita Hill" http://www.uiowa.edu/~030116/153/articles/brock01.htm

[edit] External links

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano official state site
- biography
National Governors Association - Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano biography
Follow the Money - Janet Napolitano 2006 campaign contributions
On the Issues - Janet Napolitano issue positions and quotes
Project Vote Smart - Governor Janet Napolitano (AZ) profile
Janet Napolitano for Governor official campaign site

Articles

Democrat attorney general finally wins in 'ugliest race', Tom Squitieri, USA Today, November 11, 2002
Janet Napolitano CBS News, July 23, 2004
Impact of Napolitano's goals The Arizona Republic, January 11, 2005

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
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