April 4, 1988: Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial. He is the first Governor ever removed from office by a State through impeachment.
He was born on May 12, 1924 in Mountain Home, Utah, and raised as a Mormon. He became a fighter pilot for the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, was shot down on March 7, 1945, and was a prisoner of war for 3 weeks. He moved to Arizona, and became a Mormon bishop and a car salesman, selling Pontiacs and Ramblers with the motto, "If you can't deal with Mecham, you just can't deal."
He first ran for office in 1952, for the Arizona House of Representatives, as a Republican. He lost. In 1960, he was elected to the State Senate. In 1962, he ran for the U.S. Senate, with a typical Western Republican platform for the era, supporting the restoration of prayer in public schools and the withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations. He lost to Democrat Carl Hayden, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Arizona's other Senator was the pride of the conservatives, Barry Goldwater.
He ran for Chairman of the Republican Party of Arizona in 1963, for Governor of Arizona in 1964, for Governor again in 1974, for Governor again in 1978, and for Governor again in 1982. He lost them all, and only in 1978 did he even get the Republican nomination. Someone remembered the many Presidential campaigns of a former Governor of Minnesota, and tagged Mecham "the Harold Stassen of Arizona." In 1982, he published a book, titled Come Back America. ("Make America Great Again" was already taken -- by Ronald Reagan, in 1980.)
He ran for Governor again in 1986. Things had changed. Arizona had grown tremendously: Only about half of the registered voters in 1986 were living in the State in 1980. (This growth was reflected by the fact that, from just 1 major league sports team in 1987, the NBA's Phoenix Suns, the Phoenix area would have teams in all 4 major league sports by 1998.). In other words, there were many new voters who didn't know that Mecham's previous campaigns had rendered him a joke.
In addition, whereas, before, Mecham hadn't gotten support from the most conservative groups in the State, like the John Birch Society, this time, he got it. His main opponent in the Primary, former State House Majority Leader Burton Barr, didn't take him seriously, didn't spend enough campaign money, and ended up with over $1 million contributed but unspent, a huge amount in a State the size of Arizona. Then it rained on the day of the Primary, a rarity for Arizona, driving down turnout, and Mecham won with 54 percent of the vote.
Finally, the general election turned out to be a 3-way race: Mecham was opposed by the State Superintendent of Public Education, Carolyn Warner. Real estate developer Bill Schulz, who had nearly defeated Goldwater in 1980, had dropped out of the Democratic Primary because of a family illness, but got enough petition signatures to run as an independent candidate, splitting the anti-Republican vote. Goldwater's late endorsement gave Mecham 40 percent of the vote, to Warner's 34 and Schulz's 26, and Mecham was a plurality winner.
Right after taking office, Mecham angered Arizona's rising black population by canceling the Martin Luther King Day holiday for State employees, created by his predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, after the State legislature had refused to authorize it. Even worse, he justified it by saying, "King doesn't deserve a holiday," and, "You folks don't need another holiday. What you folks need are jobs."
Entertainers said they would boycott the State. The NFL, having awarded Super Bowl XXVII, for 1993, to Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University -- which Mecham had attended before dropping out -- took it away, the only time it has ever stripped a site of the game.
His bigotry was not limited to black people. He claimed that high divorce rates were caused by working women. He told a Jewish audience that America is a Christian nation -- which the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifically makes a lie. He 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 put his foot in his mouth again, saying, "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." In this case, the use of "cotton-picking" as a milder version of "goddamned" was worse than if he'd used the actual word.
Despite the legislature being controlled by fellow Republicans, Mecham had poor relations with them. His Cabinet choices turned out to be highly questionable, with some of them already under criminal investigation. He vetoed bills sponsored by key legislators.
His proposal to cut the State's sales tax by 1 percent, his signature issue, failed, largely because he did not specify which programs would lose funding, thus preventing lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be affected.
Mecham's political career had been a joke, but few people were laughing now. On October 9, 1987, Goldwater, having retired after the previous year's election, called for Mecham's resignation. This was followed by the same from Goldwater's Senate successor, John McCain, and Representative John Kyl, who would also later serve in the Senate.
Pursuant to the Arizona Constitution, a recall petition may not be circulated against an official unless he has been in office for at least 6 months, and one was filed against Mecham on July 9, 1987. The recall committee was led by Ed Buck, a registered Republican, and an openly gay businessman living in the Phoenix area.
Mecham claimed the recall supporters were "a band of homosexuals and dissident Democrats." He 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. He went to an NFL exhibition game at Sun Devil Stadium, and the fans chanted, "Re-call! Re-call! Re-call!" A recall election was scheduled for May 17, 1988, and John Rhodes, the former U.S. House Minority Leader -- who had been through this before, having told President Richard Nixon that he would be impeached if he didn't resign, which he did, 2 days later -- agreed to run against him.
There would be no recall: Impeachment took priority. On January 8, 1988, a grand jury issued indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging 3 counts of perjury, 2 counts of fraud, and 1 count of failing to report a campaign contribution.
On February 8, the State House impeached Evan Mecham by a vote of 46-14. This suspended his powers as Governor. Since Arizona has no Lieutenant Governor, the State's Secretary of State, Rose Mofford, became the Acting Governor, and thus the 1st female Governor in the State's history.
Naturally, a witness in Mecham's State Senate impeachment trial compared the proceedings to the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. A charge of filing a false statement was dropped, 16-12. But Mecham screwed himself by testifying that the legislature had no authority over him. On April 4, the Senate convicted Mecham on obstruction of justice by a vote of 21-9, and on misusing government funds by a vote of 26-4. The Senate then voted 17-12 to disqualify Mecham from holding State office again, but that was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage.
Upon the announcement of the vote, Mofford immediately and officially became the full, non-acting, Governor of Arizona. The recall election, no longer necessary, was canceled by the State Supreme Court.
The Mecham brothers' lawyers realized the best way to win was to keep their clients from testifying on their own behalf. On June 10, they were acquitted of all charges.
Evan Mecham didn't get the message. He became an Arizona Delegate to the 1988 Republican Convention. In 1990, he ran for Governor again. He got 24 percent of the vote in the Republican Primary, against a very similar candidate, crooked businessman Fife Symington, who ended up winning. Unlike Mecham, he got re-elected; but, also unlike Mecham, got convicted before a recall movement or an impeachment movement, and resigned the office.
In 1992, Mecham ran for the Senate, as an independent against McCain. He got 10 percent of the vote. In the same election, Arizona voters approved the MLK Day holiday, taking the decision out of the hands of the Governor and the legislature. The NFL awarded Super Bowl XXX, for 1996, to Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium).
In 1999, Mecham wrote a book, Wrongful Impeachment. In 2004, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, leading many people to ask how the doctors could tell. He died on February 21, 2008, at the age of 83.
Better to be remembered as a crook than as a bigot, I suppose.
UPDATE: In 2022, Arizona voters approved the creation of the office of Lieutenant Governor, to take effect with the 2026 election.
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April 4, 1988 was a Monday. This was also the day that the University of Kansas, nearly with home-court advantage, beat Oklahoma to win the National Championship in Kansas City. I have a separate entry for htat event.
As they tended to do in the late 20th Century, this NCAA Tournament Final coincided with Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and these games were played:
* The New York Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 10-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Dwight Gooden outpitched Dennis Martinez. Darryl Strawberry went 4-for-4 with 2 solo home runs and a walk. One of the homers was the longest ever hit at Le Stade Olympique, crashing into the right field roof, 535 feet from home plate.
Lenny Dykstra (3 RBIs), Kevin Elster and Kevin McReynolds (4-for-5 with 3 RBIs) also hit home runs. Former Met Hubie Brooks homered for the Expos.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jack Morris and Roger Clemens both went 9 innings, but the game went to a 10th, where Lee Smith gave up a home run to Alan Trammell. Mike Henneman mopped up for Morris. Matt Nokes also homered for the Tigers. For the Sox, Wade Boggs went 2-for-5, and Brady Anderson went 3-for-5.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. It was a bad omen for the O's: They lost their 1st 21 games of the season, an all-time record, and 107 games over the course of the season.
Teddy Higuera outpitched Mike Boddicker. Dale Sveum went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Jeff Treadway led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a walk, and eventually scored on a single by Kal Daniels. Joe Magrane was the starting pitcher for the Cards, and hit a home run, but did not figure in the decision.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ricky Horton outpitched Mike Witt. Ken Williams, later to be the general manager who built the White Sox' 2005 World Series winners, went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Jimmy Key outpitched Bret Saberhagen. George Brett went 2-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Pete O'Brien hit 2 homers, to make a winning pitcher out of Charlie Hough. He and the Indians' starter, Tom Candiotti, were both knuckleballers, but it would be Chris Codiroli who blew the lead for Candiotti.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Dave Dravecky outpitched Fernando Valenzuela. Brett Butler went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. The only Dodger run came on a home run by Steve Sax.
The Giants had won the National League Western Division the year before, and would win it the year after, and the Pennant, too. Not this year: The Dodgers went on to win the World Series.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dave Stewart outpitched Mark Langston. José Canseco and Dave Henderson hit home runs for the A's.
Every other team opened the next day. Football was out of season. No games were played in the NBA. And the NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
