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Governor Evan Mecham Impeachment Papers 1986-1988

UNCLASSIFIED

Historical Note

Evan Mecham was born on May 12, 1924 in Mountain Home, Utah, and was the youngest of five boys, with one younger sister. He graduated as salutatorian from Altamont High School in 1942 and enrolled in Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) on an agricultural scholarship. Mecham left college and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in January 1943. During World War II, he was held in Germany as a prisoner of war for 22 days after being shot down while flying escort on a reconnaissance mission. He later received an Air Medal and Purple Heart and was discharged in 1945. That same year, he married Florence Lambert and the couple raised seven children: Suzanne, Dennis, Christine, Eric, Teresa, Kyle, and Lance.

From 1947-1950, Mecham attended Arizona State College (now Arizona State University), though he did not graduate. Mecham left college to become a businessman. In 1950, he bought a Pontiac a franchise in Ajo, Arizona and, after relocating to Glendale, Arizona in 1954, was awarded a different auto franchise that he eventually sold in 1988. During that time, he also owned several small newspapers but failed to break into the publishing markets in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

During his time in Ajo, Mecham became interested in politics. In 1952, Mecham unsuccessfully ran for the Arizona House of Representatives but, in 1960, was elected to the Arizona Senate where he served for two years. Between 1962-1982, he had unsuccessful political runs for United States Senate, for state chairman of the Republican Party, and four attempts for Arizona state governor. Mecham won his fifth run for governor in 1986 and served as the 17th governor of Arizona from January 5, 1987, until his impeachment conviction on April 4, 1988.

During his term as governor, Mecham was attributed with opening a trade office in Taiwan expanding export contracts, strengthening drug abuse prevention efforts through legislation, collaborating with the National Governor's Association to raise the speed limit on rural highways, supporting a legislative bill to prevent takeovers of Arizona businesses, and overseeing the elimination of a $157 million budget deficit in the state spending.

Despite these accomplishments, Mecham was also the first U.S. governor to simultaneously face a scheduled recall election, a felony indictment, and removal from office through impeachment. He was also the first Arizona governor to ever be impeached. Early in his term, he faced controversy over the cancellation of the paid Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, for attributing high divorce rates to working women, and for making racially insensitive comments. These controversies let to a boycott of Arizona by tourists, business, and prominent musicians that had adverse economic effects across the state.

The Mecham Watchdog Committee was originally organized in January 1987 and changed its name to the Mecham Recall Committee in May 1987. Led by Ed Buck, a registered Republican and gay businessman living in the Phoenix area, the committee began an effort to collect 350,000 signatures to cause a recall election. In response, Mecham and his supporters retaliated against Buck and the recall effort by promoting homophobic tropes and using hate speech. On November 2, the recall committee turned in 32,401 petitions containing 388,988 signatures and, on January 26, 1988 after Secretary of State Rose Mofford reported to Mecham that 301,032 signatures had been verified, a recall election was scheduled for May 17, 1988. Former Republican Congressman John Rhodes agreed to run against Mecham.

During the recall effort, in July 1987, a group of thirteen Republican members of the state legislature, dubbed the Dirty Dozen by the local press, met to discuss controversies surrounding Mecham. These members issued a joint statement critical of many of the governor's efforts and calls for the governor's resignation followed several months afterwards led by former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Other Arizona political leaders, including Congressman Jon Kyl and Senator John McCain, made appeals for Mecham to step down to no avail.

Between October and November 1987, there were three impeachable claims leveled against Mecham: that he failed to report a $350,000 loan from local real-estate developer Barry Wolfson to Mecham's election campaign, that he had loaned $80,000 in public funds to help his auto dealership, and that he instructed the head of the Arizona Department of Public Safety to not provide information on an incident alleging that Horace Lee Watkins, a Mecham appointee, made a death threat to a government official. Speaker of Arizona's House of Representatives hired a special counsel to investigate the charges.

This investigation coincided with the grand jury issuing indictments against Evan Mecham and Willard Mecham, the Governor's brother and campaign finance manager, charging three counts of perjury, two counts of fraud, and one count of failing to report a campaign contribution on January 8, 1988. Mecham and his brother faced 22 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

On January 15, 1988, the special counsel appointed by the Speaker of the House delivered his report to the House and the House subsequently began hearings into possible impeachment proceedings on January 19th. House Resolution 2002 passed on February 8th by a vote of 46 to 14 and upon Mecham's impeachment, his powers as governor were suspended and Mofford became acting governor.

The Arizona State Senate convened as a court of impeachment on February 29th. The charges against Mecham in the impeachment trial were obstruction of justice, filing a false statement, and misuse of government funds. The false filings charge was dropped by the Senate on a vote of 16 to 12. The Senate convicted Mecham on obstruction of justice by a vote of 21 to 9, and on misusing government funds by a vote of 26 to 4 on April 4th. The Senate then voted 17 to 12 to disqualify Mecham from holding state office again, but that was short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. Upon conviction, Mecham was removed from office and Mofford became Governor of Arizona.

The recall election was canceled by the Arizona Supreme Court in a 4 to 1 ruling that the constitutionally mandated order of succession took precedence over the state's recall provisions.

The criminal case against Mecham and his brother went to trial on June 2. The grand jury found that prosecutors failed to prove that the Mechams knowingly erred on their campaign reports, and acquitted the brothers on all six felony charges on June 10.

Following his removal from office, Mecham remained active in politics for nearly a decade. During this time, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and ran again for Arizona Governor and for the U.S. Senate. Mecham passed away on February 21, 2008. He had Alzheimer’s disease for years and was at the Arizona State Veteran Home in Phoenix until he went into hospice care shortly before his death.

Scope and Content

The Governor Evan Mecham Impeachment Papers are comprised of materials donated to the James E. Rogers College of Law by alumnus Janice A. Wezelman. Most of the material centers on the indictment of Governor Mecham and his brother Willard and Governor Mecham’s impeachment proceedings in the Arizona State Legislature. The collection also contains material collected by Arizona Senator David Bartlett who, at the time of Governor Mecham’s impeachment hearings, was one of the members of the Arizona House of Representatives who interrogated him and was 1 of 46 representatives that voted in favor of impeachment. Additionally, this collection contains material collected by Robert Glennon, who currently serves as the Regents' Professor, Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy, James E. Rogers College of Law, and is the husband of Wezelman.

This collection will be of interest to law students and lawyers since it includes Governor Mecham’s grand jury indictment, proceedings that are not often made public, and the impeachment process in the Arizona State Legislature from the hearings in the House, that has the sole power of impeachment, to the impeachment trial in the Senate, that has the sole power to try impeachments. This collection also provides insight into how different types of legal proceedings are carried out; how lawyers effectively prepare for and litigate cases in court; how judges arrive at their decisions; insight into the documentation and thought process of a sitting House member during impeachment hearings; and the role of the Arizona Supreme Court in impeachment proceedings.

Arrangement

Restrictions

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Governor Evan Mecham Impeachment Papers. Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library. Special Collections and Archives.

Processing Information

Processed in January of 2019.

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