Jan Brewer

Janice Kay "Jan" Brewer
Governor of Arizona
Incumbent
In office
January 20, 2009 - Present
Term ends
January 5, 2015
Years in position	4
Party	Republican
Predecessor	Janet Napolitano (D)
Compensation
Base salary	$95,000 per year
Elections and appointments
First elected	November 2, 2010
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	2 consecutive terms
Prior offices
Arizona House of Representatives
1983 - 1987
Arizona State Senate
1987 - 1997
Arizona Secretary of State
2003 - 2009
Personal
Birthday	September 26, 1944
Place of birth	Hollywood, California
Religion	Lutheran
Websites
Office website

Janice Kay "Jan" Drinkwine Brewer (b. September 26, 1944 in Hollywood, California) is a Republican politician currently serving as the 22nd Governor of Arizona. As the Arizona Constitution does not make provision for the position of Lieutenant Governor, Brewer (as Arizona's Secretary of State) was the first in line to succeed Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano when she resigned to become United States Secretary of Homeland Security on January 20, 2009. Brewer is Arizona's fourth female governor and the third consecutive female governor of the state. In the 2010 midterm election, she won election to a full term as Arizona's chief executive.

Brewer is exploring a run for re-election in 2014, but it is unclear if she is able to do so. As of November 2012, there is no definitive answer to whether or not Brewer is eligible to seek re-election under the Arizona constitution's rules governing gubernatorial term limits.

Long active in state politics, Brewer began her political career in 1982 when she was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives. Serving in that chamber until 1987, Brewer then joined the Arizona State Senate for the next ten years. In 1996, Brewer was elected the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, serving as Chair in 1998 and 2001. She was next elected Arizona Secretary of State in 2002, where she served until being elevated to the governorship.

Biography

Brewer was born in Hollywood, California to Perry and Edna Drinkwine. Her father died of lung disease when she was eleven years old. Growing up, Brewer worked alongside her mother in a franchise dress shop her mother owned.

Brewer studied at Glendale Community College where she received a radiologist technician certificate. She moved to Arizona after marrying her husband, John.

Political career

Governor of Arizona (2009 - Present)

In January of 2009, former Gov. Napolitano was officially nominated by President Barack Obama to be his Secretary of Homeland Security. As secretary of state, Brewer was next in the line of succession. She became Governor of Arizona on January 20, 2009 and held her inaugural ceremony the next day. She subsequently won election to a full term as governor in 2010.

Judicial appointments

As governor, Brewer is responsible for appointing judges to Arizona state courts. In Arizona, the governor makes a judicial appointment after candidates are recommended by a judicial nominating commission. After the governor appoints a judge, she or he must run for retention at the appellate level or election at the trial court level in the next general election more than two years after taking office. For an up-to-date list of all of Brewer's appointees, see Judgepedia's page on her appointments.

Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")

In March, 2010, after the federal government enacted the Affordable Care Act, including mandate that would require everyone in the country to purchase insurance, Brewer called a special session of the State Legislature in order to seek permission to sue the federal government on behalf of the state. Terry Goddard, then the Democratic State Attorney General, had chosen not to join fourteen other states in filing suit against the federal government over health care reform, believing it had "little chance of prevailing," and Brewer decided she should intervene. It should be noted that, at the time, both Brewer and Goddard were candidates in the state's gubernatorial race - Goddard being the presumptive Democratic nominee as opposed to Brewer, who was facing a heavily competitive Republican primary contest.

Over two years later, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as "Obamacare," and officials such as Brewer who had long fought for its repeal were left in a state of dilemma over how to proceed with the few choices which they had been reserved. Going forward, states would have to decide for themselves whether to participate in the federally controlled Medicaid expansion, and a state versus federal health-exchange program. As a statement of perseverant protest of Obamacare, or otherwise guided by their mistrust of the federal government to honor its long term financial promises for the expansion, several of Brewer's Republican colleagues pledged to keep their states outside the sphere of medicaid expansion. In her 2013 State of the State address, however, Brewer resolved this particular dilemma for Arizona by breaking ranks with the Republican party on the issue of Medicaid. In addition to conceding the futility of continued opposition to Obamacare in the wake of the Supreme Court decision and Obama's re-election victory, Brewer discussed the considerable popular support for expanding patient eligibility: Arizona has voted twice to require the state to provide free care for everyone up to the federal poverty line, which is about $20,000 in household income for a small family. During her speech, Brewer appealed to the Republican controlled chambers of the state legislature to not reject the opportunity to have the federal government finance an expansion seems likely to happen within Arizona anyway. She also pointed to the economic and job saving potential of including Arizona in the federal expansion. Even though she decided to embrace this feature of the Affordable Care Act, Brewer made it clear she was not going to settle for less federal funding than what she believes the state needs and will need to finance the estimated hundreds of thousands of newly eligible low-income Arizonans added to the Medicaid rolls, and "protect rural and safety-net hospitals from being pushed to the brink by growing their cost in caring for the uninsured."

Term limits

Brewer was originally appointed governor in 2009 and subsequently won election to a full term in 2010. Having occupied the office during two consecutive terms, she is barred from seeking re-election in 2014 under the state's rules governing term limits for executive officials. However in late 2012, Brewer began discussing the possibility of running in 2014, which raised eyebrows as well as questions, particularly among the political media, about the merits of a potential legal challenge. Based on most interpretations of the state constitution, Brewer is ineligible to run for re-election, although Joe Kanefield, Brewer's former chief legal counsel, presented a counter argument to the Arizona Republic in November 2012 which seemed to have offered Brewer some encouragement. Kanefield asserted that the specific language of the term limit law -- "which shall include any part of a term served" -- was meant to prevent crafty politicians from resigning just short of their second term's expiration in order to stay in office; And since Brewer, short of "gaming the system," inherited the role automatically in 2009 per constitutional succession procedure, she ought to be able to run for re-election without violating the spirit of the law, he said.

When asked about her potential third term bid and the accompanying term-limit hurdle in a November 2012 interview with the Arizona Republic, Brewer responded, "I haven't ruled it out, and I've been encouraged by people — legal scholars and other people — that it's probably something that I ought to pursue." If she pursues the legal challenge, a majority vote by the Arizona Supreme Court would be required to enable her bid. Brewer appointed three of the five total justices.

Redistricting

There is an independent redistricting commission, created by Proposition 106 in 2000, that governs redistricting in Arizona. According to its website, the mission of the commission is, "to administer the fair and balanced redistricting of the Congressional and Legislative districts for the State of Arizona."

The commission has 5 members: one appointed by each of the Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, House Speaker and House Minority Leader. The fifth and final member is an independent, chosen by the first four appointees. The fifth member also serves as the chair. As of October 2011, the commission was comprised of 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 independent.

Following the 2010 census, the commission drafted redistricting maps. The draft maps, for which there is a 30 day comment period that began October 11, 2011, leave open the possibility that Democrats could gain seats in Republican-controlled Arizona. On October 26, 2011, Gov. Brewer "began the impeachment process for removing members from the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission by submitting a letter outlining her grievances to commission Chairwoman Colleen Mathis.". Earlier in the month, Brewer called the draft maps "gerrymandering at its worst," and described the commission as "unaccountable" and said it "misused its authority."

Presidential preference

2012

See also: Endorsements by state officials of presidential candidates in the 2012 election

Jan Brewer endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

Arizona Secretary of State (2003 - 2009)

Brewer was elected Arizona Secretary of State in 2002, serving there until 2009. She was also a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (1996 - 2002)

In 1996 Brewer ran for chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, defeating incumbent Ed King. She served in this position for six years.

Arizona State Senate (1986 - 1996)

Brewer was a state senator for ten years, from 1986-1996. During her last three years as a state senator, she held the leadership position of majority whip.

Arizona House of Representatives (1982 - 1986)

Brewer was elected as a Republican to the Arizona House of Representatives in 1982. She served there through 1986, when she won election to the Arizona State Senate.

Elections

2014

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014

Brewer is exploring a run for re-election in 2014. As of Feb. 2013, there is no definitive answer to whether or not Brewer, who was originally appointed to the position in 2009 and has been elected one time since, in 2010, will be able to seek re-election under the Arizona constitution's rules governing gubernatorial term limits.

2010

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Brewer defeated four opponents in the August 24 primary, receiving 81.79% of the vote. Buz Mills came in second with 8.84%. Brewer faced Terry Goddard (D), Barry J. Hess (L), and Larry Gist (G) in the November 2 general election.

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Jan Brewer's donors each year. Click [show] for more information.

Jan Brewer's Campaign Contributions
	2010 Governor of Arizona		2006 Arizona Secretary of State		2002 Arizona Secretary of State
Total Raised	$1,820,099		$261,510		$370,989
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$1,826,740 (Dem.) $25,467 (Green) $5,615 {Lib).		$266,632 (Dem.) $2,306 (Lib.)		$258,593 (Dem.) $8,070 (Lib.)
Top 5 contributors	Public fund	$1,768,577	Public fund	$238,845	Public fund	$348,501
	Russell D. Smoldon	$140	Sydney B. Knight	$220	Jan Brewer	$1,060
	Troy A. Hoberg	$140	Jean M. McGrath	$120	Richard B. West	$310
	Oscar Lizardi	$140	Gary Lederer	$120	Chuck Garner	$140
	Laurie Lines	$140	Richard Bitner	$120	Janet Lynn Hauk	$110
Individuals	$51,110		$21,935		$21,275
Institutions	-		$315		-
In-state donations	$1,814,227		$261,055		$21,958
Out-of-state donations	$5,600		$580		$530

Personal

Brewer married her husband, John, and worked in Glendale, California before moving to his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona in 1970. They later moved to Glendale, Arizona where he became a successful chiropractor and found success in real estate. She gave birth to three sons, one of whom died in 2007.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Jan + Brewer + Arizona + Governor"

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Jan Brewer News Feed

• Arizona governor staking legacy on Medicaid - USA Today - USA TODAY
• Arizona governor vetoes bill making gold, silver legal tender - GlobalPost - GlobalPost
• Jan Brewer Vetoes Gold & Silver Bill Over Tax Revenue Concerns - Huffington Post
• Gov. Jan Brewer stops bill signings over Medicaid - AZCentral.com - azcentral.com
• Jan Brewer: Federal Government 'Refuses' To Secure Arizona Border - Huffington Post
• Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer thinks Jodi Arias is guilty - The Desert Sun
• Arizona law forces cities to resell guns from buy-back programs - Yahoo! News
• Governor Jan Brewer Celebrates Arizona Travel and Tourism Days - Yumanewsnow
• How Long Will Arizona Deny Driver's Licenses to Immigrant Youth? - The Nation. (blog)
• Governor Jan Brewer Names Appointments to the Pima County Superior Court - Yumanewsnow

See also

• Governor of Arizona
• Governor

External links

Suggest a link

• Jan Brewer campaign website
• Arizona Governor's website
• Project Vote Smart biography of Jan Brewer
• Jan Brewer on Facebook
• Jan Brewer on Twitter
• Jan Brewer on Flickr
• Jan Brewer on YouTube
• Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1996

References

Political offices
Preceded by Janet Napolitano (D)	Governor of Arizona 2009-present	Succeeded by NA
Preceded by Betsy Bayless	Arizona Secretary of State 2003-2009	Succeeded by Ken Bennett (R)