Republican Jan Brewer easily defeated Democrat Terry Goddard to win a full term as Arizona's governor Tuesday by avoiding potential fallout from the state's deep budget troubles and riding a wave of support for the state's controversial law on illegal immigration.
Brewer had nearly 56 percent of the vote and Goddard 41 percent with 65 percent of precincts reporting and hundreds of thousands of early ballots counted.
Brewer raised her right hand in triumph over her head while being introduced to a cheering crowd of Republicans in a Phoenix hotel ballroom.
"Tonight we see the fruits of a united party," Brewer said, exulting in her win and those of other Republicans both in Arizona and across the country. "Tonight the cavalry has just come riding over the hill."
In a nearby hotel, Goddard told his supporters that he ran with a message of trying to foster bipartisan cooperation to put Arizonans to work again. But he said the state was "distracted by division."
"We've made our Latino brothers and sisters, fellow citizens, feel like they are strangers in their own party," he said.
More than three-fourths of voters who strongly support the state's immigration law and feel that state governments should determine laws on illegal immigration cast a ballot for Brewer, according to an Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll results and pre-election polls.
Brewer was elevated from secretary of state in January 2009 when Democrat Janet Napolitano resigned to become federal Homeland Security secretary.
Goddard ran twice unsuccessfully for governor in the 1990s. The former Phoenix mayor is finishing his second term as state attorney general.
Goddard was unopposed in the Aug. 24 primary election, while Brewer easily won her party's nomination after being buoyed by her April signing of Arizona's law against illegal immigration, SB1070. Parts of the law have been put on hold by a federal judge pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
Critics denounced the law as promoting racial profiling, but Brewer denied that and said the state had to act because the federal government was not doing enough to stop illegal immigration.
And she was helped when voters on May 18 overwhelmingly approved a temporary sales tax increase she championed to help balance the state budget.
Brewer said Goddard was lax on illegal immigration because he said SB1070 was misguided. She also said she'd made tough decisions on Arizona's budget crisis, and she took advantage of every opportunity to trumpet economic development events bringing new jobs to the state.
Goddard said Brewer hadn't done enough to fix the state's budget troubles, and he said her administration went easy on private prisons like the one where three violent offenders escaped July 30.
Brewer, who confronted a growing budget crisis when she took office, still faces a grim fiscal picture, with sizable shortfalls projected for the current and next fiscal years.
The state has already laid off more than 2,000 state employees and reduced funding for services and programs across state government. Visible effects have been seen in slashed day care subsidies, cuts in health care for the poor and closed state parks and rest areas.
Brewer and Goddard debated only once, on Sept. 1. They had to because each accepted public campaign financing.
Brewer earlier said she wouldn't give Goddard additional face-to-face exposure, but her performance in the one debate solidified her decision.
It began with Brewer pausing for about 15 seconds during her opening statement and concluded with her bolting from reporters asking her after the debate about her claim of headless bodies being found in the desert. She later retracted the claim.
A swell of approval from voters who support the state's controversial new immigration law and feel that most illegal immigrants should be deported helped Republican Jan Brewer win the election for Arizona governor on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press analysis of preliminary exit poll results and pre-election polls.
More than three-fourths of people who strongly support the new law favored Brewer over Democratic opponent Terry Goddard.
Goddard won over nine out of 10 voters who strongly oppose the new law and most Latino voters.
Brewer signed the new law in April as she criticized what she called the federal government's inaction on illegal immigration. A judge blocked the law's most controversial portions, such as a requirement that police, while enforcing other laws, question people's immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.
Critics say the law would lead to rampant racial profiling, while supporters say the state has to do something to fight illegal immigration.
John Sigler, a 42-year-old business consultant who lives in Phoenix, said Brewer got his vote because of the law.
"That solidified it," he said. "It clearly signaled that she's serious about the issue."
He said he supports the new law because he feels that protections have been put in place to avoid racial profiling. "I don't want people to be hurt by any means, but I've traveled in Italy and forgotten my passport, and they wouldn't let me check into a hotel, and that was a hotel," he said.
Sean Bonnette, a 25-year-old social worker living in Phoenix, said he voted for Goddard because of his criticism of the immigration law.
"I don't think (Brewer) had any place to pass that law," he said. "I believe it's unconstitutional — there's no way to enforce that law without racial profiling people. Just saying you're not going to racially profile people doesn't mean you won't."
Bonnette said he thinks Brewer signed the law to boost her popularity. "This thing is what really made her career," he said.
About two-thirds of people who voted for Brewer said the candidate quality that mattered most in their decision was that Brewer understands the needs of the people. More than half who voted for Goddard said they felt he could bring needed change.
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. John McCain bested Democrat Rodney Glassman after winning widespread support, including six in 10 voters who said they were independent, and nine of 10 who described themselves as Republican. Glassman ran strong among voters who support President Barack Obama and feel satisfied about the way the federal government is working.
Most voters who support the tea party movement cast a ballot for McCain, while those opposed to the movement generally voted for Glassman.
Nearly two-thirds of voters who felt the economy was the most important issue facing the country favored McCain. Most who felt that way also voted for Brewer.
With her win, Brewer will serve her first full term as an elected governor. She was the elected secretary of state when she became governor in January 2009. Her predecessor, Democrat Janet Napolitano, resigned to become Homeland Security secretary.
Goddard, a former Phoenix mayor, unsuccessfully ran twice for governor in the early 1990s, losing a 1991 runoff to Republican Fife Symington and a 1994 primary race.
The survey of 2,499 Arizona voters was conducted for AP by Edison Research. This includes preliminary results from interviews with 1,799 voters from a random sample of 30 precincts statewide Tuesday; 700 who voted early or absentee were interviewed by landline or cellular telephone from Oct. 22 through Oct. 31. Results for the full sample were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups.
victoria posted at 10:56 pm on Tue, Nov 2, 2010.
I predict a dire four years ahead for the state of Arizona. The first thing this woman is going to do is to cut our education funding for K-12; we're already 48th out of 50 states in test results...is she aiming for us to be last? The woman didn't write 1070, she didn't research 1070, she just signed it when her politicos told her it would assure her a victory tonight - and they were right. She hasn't done squat since signing 1070 - ya know, that bill that went nowhere, but has cost the taxpayers of this state millions of dollars to defend.
Slabside posted at 12:04 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Sour grapes victoria.[sneaky]
Samurai posted at 1:52 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
I am thankful the people of Arizona made the right decision. Though I'm not too surprised. You could feel the desperasion coming from the Goddard camp when the only dirt they could throw at the governer was a DUI from over twenty years ago.
Like Napalitano before him, Goddard would have done everything in his power to gut SB1070 and to ignore the will of the people. I am looking forward to a Brewer administration with a Secretary of State and Attorney General who support her.
Bingo6 posted at 4:50 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
The white supremecists are burning their crosses in victory tonight.
Governor Pearce and his LT. Joe Arpaio will have their way with their lackey stooge, Jan Brewer.
I can see the Gulags going up now.
Be afraid Arizona, be very afraid.
brainfreeze posted at 7:51 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
The people have spoken, we want the illegals OUT!
PapaRoger posted at 8:41 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Governor rides immigration wave. Is this a serious headline? Immigration is an issue but so is the bloated state budget. Just like in your own home, cutting expenses can be very painful but it's still necessary. Get used to it!!
Slabside posted at 11:46 am on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Forked, I understand your concern over education but as an Arizona native, I have watched government throw money at the problem for years and it does not get better. It's time to try a different approach like trimming the fat in the education bureaucracy and management. Brewer knows that. It will not be easy but I believe she will get the job done.
Accuracy posted at 12:05 pm on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Angry, irked, sore loser: It is obvious is that Terry Goddard is a person that loses especially consistently, and has been for the third time in the gubernatorial race.
Fueled by her staunch support of Arizona's controversial immigration law and a national mood that favored Republicans, Gov. Jan Brewer scored an easy win over Democrat Terry Goddard.
The squabble, by Terry Goddard, over any ideas or suggestions to combat illegal immigration continues. Back in Aug. 2005, Attorney General Terry Goddard did not favor the passage of (then Secretary of State Jan Brewer's new requirements of Proposition 200) law that required voters to show ID at the polls, and several other measures aimed at enforcing immigration laws.
OneVoice posted at 12:10 pm on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Where Goddard lost me was Sunday morning as I was watching an interaction between him and an interviewer, and he kept trying to stress how tough he was on immigration. Goddard, please, lies before breakfast?
AZMomma posted at 2:02 pm on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Goddard WAS my candidate except for his weak, pandering- to-Obama stance on the Border security. His lips moved, but he was NOT helping AZ. His "tough on immigration" rang hollow against facts that we could see. Bottom line, he never grew a set of cajones and acted like he really wanted the Office.
Too bad he didn't want the Senate instead, because he might have been the one candidate that the Dems had to beat McCain.
Accuracy posted at 4:30 pm on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
So, beware of several Mexican drug cartels which are sending a team of snipers into the United States to use lethal force against bandits who are robbing their drug smugglers.
That smuggling route extends from Mexico northward across Interstate 8 to Phoenix. That the area has gotten so dangerous that the Bureau of Land Management has posted signs along the US Interstate 8 highway warning American travelers of the danger from alien and drug smugglers.
And beware of the fact that Phoenix is now the Kidnap Capital of America and almost all of it is intra-cartel violence taking place in Arizona.
Slabside posted at 5:45 pm on Wed, Nov 3, 2010.
Goddard agrees with the Federal government on the immigration issue that Feds are suing Arizona over. Forked voted for Goddard and has the audacity to call onevoice ignorant. Pot meet kettle.
Masterrogue666 posted at 7:07 am on Thu, Nov 4, 2010.
Victoria: Perhaps if you consider THE COST of educating all those anchor babies, and ILLEGAL ALIENS that happen to be children, then you'll see the WISDOM of removing said persons to their place of origin. Then the money will be PROPERLY spent on LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, and US CITIZEN's children.
The election is a great indication of the MAJORITIES opinion. The largest swing to CONSERVATIVE Republicans in how many years?
rrjenn posted at 7:58 pm on Thu, Nov 4, 2010.
victoria, SB1070 isn't costing taxpayers very much if any money. The money being spent now are dollars donated by people who wish to see it fully implemented. They still have a few million left for the supreme court challenge that is sure to follow after the 9th is finished with it.
Our school test are behind most other states, but it's not due to SB1070. That law doesn't have anything to do with education as far as I'm aware of. If I had to put my republican finger on the problem I would say that having so many non English speaking students in all the classroom holds the entire class behind. In any case, the illegals can't possible have a positive effect on overall scoring. Prove me wrong.