Did someone say the Sec. of State isn’t prepared to be Governor?

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by David Safier

I missed this when it appeared in the Republic at the end of November. Apparently, Jan Brewer was one of the legislators back in 1994 who was pushing to replace the elected Secretary of State position with an appointed Lieutenant Governor. She even wrote an op ed on the topic.

The duties of Arizona secretary of state "do little to prepare that officeholder for the statewide leadership role required of a governor."

At least that's what Jan Brewer wrote in a 1994 op-ed article for The Arizona Republic.Then a state senator and the GOP's majority whip, Brewer encouraged state voters to approve a ballot proposition creating an Office of Lieutenant Governor, with that individual first in succession to the Governor's Office.

[snip]

In the 1994 op-ed piece, Brewer wrote that "we have seen what happens when the governorship is thrust upon an unwilling and untrained secretary of state, no matter how sincere or well-intentioned. Arizona deserves more than just a caretaker governor."

Here's the money quote from that old op ed (I scoured the web for the original but couldn't find it. Anyone have a yellowed 1994 issue of the Republic lying around?):

"Arizonans deserve to have a governor that will continue the same general policies as the one (voters) elected."

What a wonderful idea, Jan. I'm looking forward to seeing you wearing your brand new "What would Janet do?" T shirt.

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