Rose Mofford - Elected Office

Elected Office

When Governor Raúl Castro announced his resignation to become Ambassador to Argentina, Secretary Bolin ascended to the governorship. Arizona has no lieutenant governor; the secretary of state stands first in the line of succession to the governorship. Bolin in turn appointed Mofford to serve the remainder of his term as Secretary of State. Bolin died in office on March 4, 1978. Although Mofford was Secretary of State, she did not succeed to the office of Governor, because she was not holding the office by election, as required by the Arizona Constitution. At the end of the term she ran for Secretary of State and won reelection three times in 1978, 1982 and 1986.

Becoming known in the state capital as the friendly woman with a beehive hairdo, Mofford's office gained a reputation as an efficient operation. She herself was noted for her punctuality, answering her own phone, and replying directly to her mail. In addition to her state position, she served from 1982 until 1983 as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Governor Evan Mecham was impeached on February 8, 1988. Per the Arizona Constitution, Mecham's powers were suspended and Mofford became acting governor, since by that time, she was holding the office of Secretary of State by election. While most observers complimented her on the job she performed, Mecham objected to Mofford replacing the one state department head that he had appointed. Upon Mecham's removal from office following his impeachment trial, Mofford was sworn in as Governor on April 4, 1988

Mofford's primary goal as governor was to return stability to Arizona. Her efforts were widely held as providing a calming effect following the tumultuous impeachment and recall proceedings of her predecessor. State Senate Democratic leader Alfredo Gutierrez said of her actions, "What she did was reinvest the system with dignity and honor." In early 1990, she announced that she had decided not to run for election at the end of her term.