Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano

Janet Ann Napolitano (born November 29, 1957) is the third United States Secretary of Homeland Security. She assumed the job on January 21, 2009, and is the first woman to serve in that office. An American politician from the Democratic Party, Napolitano was serving as governor of the state of Arizona when designated by then-President-elect Barack Obama to be his Secretary of Homeland Security. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in one day after Obama's inauguration.

Napolitano was first elected governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. She was Arizona's third female governor, and the first woman to win re-election. She was chair of two state Governors' associations and was named by Time as one of the top five Governors in 2005. Prior to the governship, she served as Arizona Attorney General from 1999 to 2002.

Janet Ann Napolitano was born on November 29, 1957 in New York City, the daughter of Jane Marie (née Winer) and Leonard Michael Napolitano, who was the Dean of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. She has two siblings, younger brother, Leonard Michael Jr. and Nancy Angela Haunstein. She is of Italian heritage and is a Methodist. She was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she graduated from Sandia High School in Albuquerque in 1975 and was voted Most Likely to Succeed. She graduated from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, where she won a Truman Scholarship, and was valedictorian. She then received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Virginia School of Law. Napolitano is a member of the Democratic Party. After law school she served as a law clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then joined Schroeder's former firm, the Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca.

In 1991, while a partner with the private Phoenix law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, Napolitano served as an attorney for Anita Hill. Anita Hill testified in the U.S. Senate that then U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her ten years earlier when she was his subordinate at the federal EEOC.

In 1993, Napolitano was appointed by President Bill Clinton as United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. As U.S. Attorney, she was involved in the investigation of Michael Fortier of Kingman, Arizona, in connection to the Oklahoma City bombing. She ran for and won the position of Arizona Attorney General in 1998. Her tenure focused on consumer protection issues and improving general law enforcement.

She won the Arizona gubernatorial election of 2002 with 46 percent of the vote, succeeding Republican Jane Dee Hull and defeating her Republican opponent, former congressman Matt Salmon, who received 45 percent of the vote. She is Arizona's third female governor and the first woman in the United States to be elected a governor to succeed another elected female governor.She spoke at the 2004 Democratic Convention after some initially considered her to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election but Kerry selected Sen. John Edwards instead. In November 2005, Time magazine named her one of the five best governors in the U.S.

In November 2006, Napolitano won the gubernatorial election of 2006, defeating the Republican challenger, Len Munsil, by a nearly 2–1 ratio and becoming the first woman to be re-elected to that office. Arizona's constitution provides a two-consecutive-term term limit for its governors, meaning Napolitano would have been barred from seeking a third term in office in 2010.

In January 2006, she won the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. She was a member of the Democratic Governors Association Executive Committee. Furthermore, she has also served previously as Chair of the Western Governors Association, and the National Governors Association. She served as NGA Chair from 2006 to 2007, and was the first female governor and first governor of Arizona ever to serve in that position.

In February 2006, Napolitano was named by The White House Project as one of "8 in '08", a group of eight female politicians who could possibly run for president in 2008. On January 11, 2008, Napolitano endorsed then Illinois Senator Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for President. On November 5th, 2008, Napolitano was named to the advisory board of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. On December 1, 2008, Barack Obama introduced Napolitano as his nominee for United States Secretary of Homeland Security. On January 20, 2009, Napolitano was confirmed, becoming the first woman appointed Secretary in the relatively new department. Secretary of State Jan Brewer became the governor of Arizona, as the state does not have a lieutenant governor.

Napolitano is single and a breast cancer survivor. She is an avid basketball fan and regularly plays tennis. Whitewater rafting and hiking are some of Napolitano's hobbies. She has hiked in Arizona's Superstition mountains and New Mexico's Sandia mountains and has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and the Himalayas.

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Arizona

The State of Arizona ( /ærɪˈzoʊnə/ (help·info)) is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.

Arizona was the 48th and last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, the 50th anniversary of Arizona's recognition as a territory of the United States. Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters, but the high country in the north features pine forests and mountain ranges with cooler weather than the lower deserts. New population figures for the year ending July 1, 2006 indicate that Arizona was at that time the fastest growing state in the United States, exceeding the growth of the previous leader, Nevada, and is currently the second.

Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It borders New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, touches Colorado, and has a 389-mile (626 km) international border with the states of Sonora and Baja California in Mexico. In addition to the Grand Canyon, many other national forests, parks, monuments, and Indian reservations are located in the state.

Arizona is located in the western United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state in area, after New Mexico and before Nevada. Of the state's 113,998 square miles (295,000 km2), approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, recreation areas and Native American reservations.

Arizona is best known for its desert landscape, which is rich in xerophyte plants such as cactus. It is also known for its climate, which presents exceptionally hot summers and mild winters. Less well known is the pine-covered high country of the Colorado Plateau in the north-central portion of the state, which contrasts with the desert Basin and Range region in the southern portions of the state.

Like other states of the Southwest, Arizona has an abundance of topographical characteristics in addition to its desert climate. Mountains and plateaus are found in more than half of the state. The largest stand in the world of Ponderosa pine trees is contained in Arizona. The Mogollon Rim, a 2,000-foot (610 m) escarpment, cuts across the central section of the state and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, where the state experienced its worst forest fire ever in 2002. Arizona belongs firmly within the Basin and Range region of North America. The region was shaped by prehistoric volcanism, followed by a cooling-off and related subsidence. The entire region is slowly sinking.

The Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park—one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of designating the Grand Canyon area, visiting on numerous occasions to hunt mountain lion and enjoy the scenery. The Canyon was created by the Colorado River cutting a channel over millions of years, and is about 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6 to 29 kilometers) and attains a depth of more than 1 mile (1.6 km). Nearly 2 billion years of the Earth's history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut through layer after layer of sediment as the Colorado Plateaus have uplifted.

Arizona is home to one of the most well-preserved meteorite impact sites in the world. The Barringer Meteorite Crater (better known simply as "Meteor Crater") is a gigantic hole in the middle of the high plains of the Colorado Plateau, about 25 miles (40 km) west of Winslow. A rim of smashed and jumbled boulders, some of them the size of small houses, rises 150 feet (46 m) above the level of the surrounding plain. The crater itself is nearly a mile wide, and 570 feet (174 m) deep.

Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, except in the Navajo Nation, located in the northeastern region of the state.

Due to its large area and variations in elevation, the state has a wide variety of localized climate conditions. In the lower elevations, the climate is primarily desert, with mild winters and hot summers. Typically, from late fall to early spring, the weather is mild, averaging a minimum of 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 °C). November through February are the coldest months with temperatures typically ranging from 40–75 °F (4–24 °C), although occasional frosts are not uncommon. About midway through February, the temperatures start to rise again with warm days, and cool breezy nights. The summer months of June through September bring a dry heat ranging from 90–120 °F (32–48 °C), with occasional high temperatures exceeding 125 °F (52 °C) having been observed in the desert area.

Due to the primarily dry climate, large temperature swings often occur between day and night in less developed areas of the desert. The swings can be as large as 50 °F (28 °C) in the summer months. In the state's urban centers, the effects of local warming result in much higher measured nighttime lows than in the recent past.

Arizona has an average annual rainfall of 12.7 inches (323 mm), which comes during two rainy seasons, with cold fronts coming from the Pacific Ocean during the winter and a monsoon in the summer. The monsoon season occurs towards the end of summer. In July or August, the dewpoint rises dramatically for a brief period. During this time, the air contains large amounts of water vapor. Dewpoints as high as 81°F (27 °C) have been recorded during the Phoenix monsoon season. This hot moisture brings lightning, thunderstorms, wind, and torrential, if usually brief, downpours. It is rare for tornadoes and hurricanes to occur in Arizona, but there are records of both occurring.

However, the northern third of Arizona is a plateau at significantly higher altitudes than the lower desert, and has an appreciably cooler climate, with cold winters and mild summers. Extreme cold temperatures are not unknown; cold air systems from the northern states and Canada occasionally push into the state, bringing temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) to the Northern parts of the state.

Indicative of the variation in climate, Arizona is the state which has both the metropolitan area with the most days over 100 °F (37.8 °C) (Phoenix), and the metropolitan area in the lower 48 states with nearly the most days with a low temperature below freezing (Flagstaff).

There is some disagreement over the proper etymology of the name "Arizona." Some scholars believe the name is simply an abbreviation of the Spanish phrase arida zona, "dry region", although the phrasing is atypical for Spanish. Others reject this derivation as capricious favoring explanations such as the Basque phrase aritz ona, "good oak," or the O'odham phrase alĭ ṣonak, "small spring". The Basque etymology is the one preferred by Arizona state historian Marshall Trimble, among other specialists. The name Arizonac was initially applied to the silver mining camp, and later (shortened to Arizona) to the entire territory.

Marcos de Niza, a Spanish Franciscan, explored the area in 1539 and met its original native inhabitants, probably the Sobaipuri. The expedition of Spanish explorer Coronado entered the area in 1540–42 during its search for Cíbola. Society of Jesus Father Kino developed a chain of missions and taught the Indians Christianity in Pimería Alta (now southern Arizona and northern Sonora) in the 1690s and early 1700s. Spain founded presidios (fortified towns) at Tubac in 1752 and Tucson in 1775. When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, what is now Arizona became part of the Mexican Territory Nueva California, also known as Alta California. In the Mexican–American War (1847), the U.S. occupied Mexico City and forced the newly founded Mexican Republic to give up its northern territories, including what later became Arizona. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) specified that the sum of $15 million US dollars in compensation (an extraordinarily large sum at the time) be paid to the newly formed Republic of Mexico. The purchase of the area formerly ruled by Spain, then briefly Mexico, almost bankrupted the United States. As a result, the land was offered back to the Mexican Republic. In 1853 the land below the Gila River was acquired from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. Arizona was administered as part of the Territory of New Mexico until southern New Mexico seceded from the Union as the Confederate Territory of Arizona on March 16, 1861. Arizona was recognized as a Confederate Territory by presidential proclamation of Jefferson Davis on February 12, 1862. This is the first official use of the name. A new Arizona Territory, consisting of the western half of New Mexico Territory was declared in Washington, D.C. on February 24, 1863. The new boundaries would later form the basis of the state.

Brigham Young sent Mormons to Arizona in the mid-to-late 19th century. They founded Mesa, Snowflake, Heber, Safford and other towns. They also settled in the Phoenix Valley (or "Valley of the Sun"), Tempe, Prescott, among other areas. The Mormons settled what became known as Northern Arizona and northern New Mexico, but these areas were located in a part of the former New Mexico Territory. The largest ancestry of these settlers is German.

At the beginning of the Spanish/American war of 1898, Americans from mostly Arizona and New Mexico, as well as some other Southwestern States, became soldiers in Colonel Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Arizonans fought primarily in the Cuban Campaign, the largest and deadliest phase of the war, alongside Teddy Roosevelt, a future American President. Other famous people to enlist in the Arizona Volunteer Cavalry was Tom Horn, a notorious gunslinger who was involved in a number of Arizona wars, the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley Range War.

During the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920, a few battles were fought in the Mexican towns just across the border from Arizona border settlements. Throughout the revolution, Arizonans were enlisting in one of the several armies fighting in Mexico. The Battle of Ambos Nogales in 1918, other than Pancho Villa's 1916 Columbus Raid in New Mexico, was the only significant engagement on US soil between United States and Mexican forces. The battle resulted in an American victory. After US soldiers were fired on by Mexican Federal troops, the American garrison then launched an assault into Nogales Mexico. The Mexicans eventually surrendered after both sides sustained heavy casualties. A few months earlier, just West of Nogales. An Indian War battle occurred, thus being the last engagement in the American Indian Wars which lasted from 1775 to 1918. The participants in the fight were US soldiers stationed on the border and Yaqui Indians who were using Arizona as a base to raid the nearby Mexican settlements, as part of their wars against Mexico. As World War 1 raged in Europe, Frank Luke became America's 2nd best ace. Frank was born in Phoenix Arizona and was killed in combat over France in 1918.

Arizona became a U.S. state on February 14, 1912. The major result being the end to the territorial colonization of Continental America. Arizona was the 48th state admitted into the U.S. and the last of the contiguous states to be admitted. The admission, originally scheduled to coincide with that of New Mexico, was delayed by Democrats in the territorial legislature to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arizona becoming a Confederate territory in 1862.

Cotton farming and copper mining, two of Arizona's most important statewide industries, suffered heavily during the Great Depression, but it was during the 1920s and 1930s that tourism began to be the important Arizona industry it is today. Dude ranches such as the K L Bar and Remuda in Wickenburg, along with the Flying V and Tanque Verde in Tucson, gave tourists the chance to experience the flavor and life of the "old West." Several upscale hotels and resorts opened during this period, some of which are still top tourist draws to this day; they include the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in central Phoenix (opened 1929) and the Wigwam Resort on the west side of the Phoenix area (opened 1936).

Arizona was the site of German and Italian POW camps during World War II and Japanese US-resident internment camps. The camps were abolished after World War II. The Phoenix area site was purchased after the war by the Maytag family (of major home appliance fame), and is currently utilized as the Phoenix Zoo. A Japanese American internment camp was located on Mount Lemmon, just outside of the state's southeastern city of Tucson. Another POW camp was located near the Gila River in eastern Yuma County. Because of California's proximity to Japan, a line was drawn somewhat parallel to the California border, and all Japanese residents west of that line were required to reside in the war camps. Grand Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the Phoenix area and part of U.S. 60, (perhaps because it mirrored the California border) was chosen as part of that boundary. This resulted in many extended Japanese families becoming separated; some were interned, some free--and some free families, in an odd bid for family unity, requested to be interned in order to be with their families at a camp built by the original Del Webb Co., a modern manufacturer of large housing developments.

Arizona was also home to the Phoenix Indian School, one of several federal institutions designed to assimilate native children into mainstream culture. Children were often enrolled into these schools against the wishes of their parents and families. Attempts to suppress native identities included forcing the children to cut their hair and take on western names.

Arizona's population grew tremendously after World War II, in part because of the development of air conditioning, which made the intense summers more comfortable. According to the Arizona Blue Book (published by the Secretary of State's office each year), the state population in 1910 was 294,353. By 1970, it was 1,752,122. The percentage growth each decade averaged about 20% in the earlier decades and about 60% each decade thereafter.

Three ships named USS Arizona have been christened in honor of the state, although only USS Arizona (BB-39) was so named after statehood was achieved.

The 2006 total gross state product was $232 billion. If Arizona (and each of the other US states) were an independent country along with all existing countries (2005), it would have the 61st largest economy in the world (CIA - The World Factbook). This figure gives Arizona a larger economy than such countries as Ireland, Finland, and New Zealand. Arizona currently has the 21st largest economy among states in the United States. As a percentage of its overall budget, Arizona's projected 1.7 billion deficit for '09 is one of the largest in the country, behind such states as California, Michigan, and Florida, to name a few.

The state's per capita income is $27,232, 39th in the U.S. Arizona had a median household income of $46,693 making it 27th in the country and just shy of the US national median. Early in its history, Arizona's economy relied on the "Five C's": copper (see Copper mining in Arizona), cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Copper is still extensively mined from many expansive open-pit and underground mines, accounting for two-thirds of the nation's output.

The state government is Arizona's largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state's largest private employer, with 17,343 employees (2008).

Arizona collects personal income taxes in five brackets: 2.87%, 3.20%, 3.74%, 4.72% and 5.04%. The 'sales tax' is generally around 6.3%.

The state rate on transient lodging (hotel/motel) is 7.27%. The state of Arizona does not levy a state tax on food for home consumption or on drugs prescribed by a licensed physician or dentist. However, some cities in Arizona do levy a tax on food for home consumption.

All fifteen Arizona counties levy a tax. Incorporated municipalities also levy transaction privilege taxes which, with the exception of their hotel/motel tax, are generally in the range of 1-to-3%. These added assessments could push the combined sales tax rate to as high as 10.7%.

Main interstate routes include Interstate 17, and Interstate 19 running north-south, Interstate 40, Interstate 8, and Interstate 10 running east-west, and a short stretch of Interstate 15 running northeast/southwest through the extreme northwestern corner of the state. In addition, the various urban areas are served by complex networks of state routes and highways, such as the Loop 101, which is part of Phoenix's vast freeway system.

The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are served by public bus transit systems. Yuma and Flagstaff also have public bus systems. Greyhound Lines serves Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and several smaller communities statewide.

A light rail system called Valley Metro Rail has recently been completed in Phoenix; it will connect Central Phoenix with the nearby cities of Mesa and Tempe. The system officially opened for service in December 2008.

In May 2006, voters in Tucson approved a Regional Transportation Plan (a comprehensive bus transit/streetcar/roadway improvement program), and its funding via a new half-cent sales tax increment. The centerpiece of the plan is a light rail streetcar system (possibly similar to the Portland Streetcar in Oregon) that will travel through the downtown area, connecting the main University of Arizona campus with the Rio Nuevo master plan area on the western edge of downtown.

Airports with regularly scheduled commercial flights include: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX) in Phoenix (the largest airport and the major international airport in the state); Tucson International Airport (IATA: TUS, ICAO: KTUS) in Tucson; Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA, ICAO: KIWA) in Mesa; Yuma International Airport (IATA: NYL, ICAO: KNYL) in Yuma; Prescott Municipal Airport (PRC) in Prescott; Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (IATA: FLG, ICAO: KFLG) in Flagstaff, and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (IATA: GCN, ICAO: KGCN, FAA: GCN), a small, but busy, single-runway facility providing tourist flights, mostly from Las Vegas. Phoenix Sky Harbor is currently 7th busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft movements, and 17th for passenger traffic.

Other significant airports without regularly scheduled commercial flights include Scottsdale Municipal Airport (IATA: SCF, ICAO: KSDL) in Scottsdale, and Deer Valley Airport (IATA: DVT, ICAO: KDVT, FAA: DVT) home to two flight training academies and the Nation's busiest general aviation airport.

The state capital of Arizona is Phoenix. The original Capitol building, with its distinctive copper dome, was dedicated in 1901 (construction was completed for $136,000 in 1900), when the area was still a territory. Phoenix became the official state capital with Arizona's admission to the union in 1912.

The House of Representatives and Senate buildings were dedicated in 1960, and an Executive Office Building was dedicated in 1974 (the ninth floor of this building is where the Office of the Governor is located). The original Capitol building was converted into a museum.

The Capitol complex is fronted and highlighted by the richly landscaped Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, named after Wesley Bolin, a governor who died in office in the 1970s. Numerous monuments and memorials are on the site, including the anchor and signal mast from the USS Arizona (one of the U.S. Navy ships sunk in Pearl Harbor), a granite version of the Ten Commandments, and the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Arizona Legislature is bicameral (like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska) and consists of a thirty-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. Each of the thirty legislative districts has one senator and two representatives. Legislators are elected for two-year terms.

Each Legislature covers a two-year period. The first session following the general election is known as the first regular session, and the session convening in the second year is known as the second regular session. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January and adjourns sine die (terminates for the year) no later than Saturday of the week in which the 100th day from the beginning of the regular session falls. The President of the Senate and Speaker of the House, by rule, may extend the session up to seven additional days. Thereafter, the session can only be extended by a majority vote of members present of each house.

The current majority party is the Republican Party, which has held power in both houses since 1993.

Arizona state senators and representatives are elected for two year terms and are limited to four consecutive terms in a chamber, though there is no limit on the total number of terms. When a lawmaker is term-limited from office, it is not uncommon for him or her to run for election in the other chamber.

The fiscal year 2006-07 general fund budget, approved by the Arizona Legislature in June 2006, is slightly less than $10 billion. Besides the money spent on state agencies, it also includes more than $500 million in income- and property tax cuts, pay raises for government employees, and additional funding for the K–12 education system.

Arizona’s executive branch is headed by a governor, who is elected to a four-year term. The governor may serve any number of terms, though no more than two in a row. Arizona is one of the few states that does not maintain a governor’s mansion. During office the governors reside within their private residence, and all executive offices are housed in the executive tower at the state capitol. The current governor of Arizona is Jan Brewer (R). She assumed office after Janet Napolitano had her nomination by Barack Obama for Secretary of Homeland Security confirmed by the United States Senate. Arizona has had four female governors including the current Governor Jan Brewer more than any other state.

Other elected executive officials include the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Mine Inspector and a five member Corporation Commission. All elected officials hold a term of four years, and are limited to two consecutive terms (except the office of the state mine inspector, which is exempt from term limits).

Arizona is one of eight states that does not have a specified lieutenant governor. The secretary of state is the first in line to succeed the governor in the event of death, disability, resignation, or removal from office. Since 1977, four secretaries of state have risen to Arizona's governorship though these means.

The Arizona Supreme Court is the highest court in Arizona. The court currently consists of one chief justice, a vice chief justice, and three associate justices. Justices are appointed by the governor from a list recommended by a bi-partisian commission, and are re-elected after the initial two years following their appointment. Subsequent re-elections occur every six years. The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction in death penalty cases, but almost all other appellate cases go through the Arizona Court of Appeals beforehand. The court has original jurisdiction in a few other circumstances, as outlined in the state constitution. The court may also declare laws unconstitutional, but only while seated en banc. The court meets in the Arizona Supreme Court Building at the capitol complex (at the southern end of Wesley Bolin Plaza).

The Arizona Court of Appeals, further divided into two divisions, is the intermediate court in the state. Division One is based in Phoenix, consists of sixteen judges, and has jurisdiction in the Western and Northern regions of the state, along with the greater Phoenix area. Division Two is based in Tucson, consists of six judges, and has jurisdiction over the Southern regions of the state, including the Tucson area. Judges are selected in a method similar to the one used for state supreme court justices.

Each county of Arizona has a superior court, the size and organization of which are varied and generally depend on the size of the particular county.

Arizona is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties. As of 1983 there were 15 counties in the state, ranging in size from 1,238 to 18,661 square miles.

Arizona's two United States Senators are John McCain (R), the 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee, and Jon Kyl (R).

Arizona's representatives in the United States House of Representatives are Ann Kirkpatrick (D-1), Trent Franks (R-2), John Shadegg (R-3), Ed Pastor (D-4), Harry Mitchell (D-5), Jeff Flake (R-6), Raul Grijalva (D-7), and Gabrielle Giffords (D-8). Jim Kolbe announced his retirement from Congress in 2006, creating one of the few open seats in the nation in Arizona's Congressional District 8. Arizona gained two seats in the House of Representatives due to redistricting based on Census 2000.

From statehood through the late 1940s, Arizona was primarily dominated by the Democratic Party. During this time period, the Democratic candidate for the presidency carried the state each election, with the only exceptions being the elections of 1920, 1924 and 1928--all three of which were national Republican landslides.

Since the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, however, the state has voted consistently Republican in national politics, with the Republican candidate carrying the state every time with the sole exception of Bill Clinton in United States presidential election, 1996. In recent years, the Republican Party has also dominated Arizona politics in general. The fast-growing Phoenix and Tucson suburbs became increasingly friendly to Republicans from the 1950s onward. During this time, many "Pinto Democrats," or conservative Democrats from rural areas, became increasingly willing to support Republicans at the state and national level. However, the previous Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano is a Democrat; she was handily reelected in 2006.

On March 4, 2008, John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination for 2008, becoming the first presidential nominee from the state since Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Arizona politics are dominated by a longstanding rivalry between its two largest counties, Maricopa County and Pima County--home to Phoenix and Tucson. The two counties have almost 70 percent of the state's population and cast almost three-fourths of the state's vote. They also elect a substantial majority of the state legislature.

Maricopa County is home to almost 60 percent of the state's population, and most of the state's elected officials live there. It has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1948. This includes the 1964 run of native son Barry Goldwater; he wouldn't have even carried his own state had it not been for a 20,000-vote margin in Maricopa County. Similarly, while McCain won Arizona by eight percentage points in 2008, the margin would have likely been far closer if not for a 130,000-vote margin in Maricopa County.

In contrast, Pima County, home to Tucson, and most of southern Arizona has historically been more Democratic. While Tucson's suburbs lean Republican, they hold to a somewhat more moderate brand of Republicanism than is common in the Phoenix area.

Arizona rejected an anti-gay marriage amendment in the 2006 midterm elections. Arizona was the first state in the nation to do so. Same-sex marriage was already illegal in Arizona, but this amendment would have denied any legal or financial benefits to unmarried homosexual or heterosexual couples.

In 2008, Arizona passed an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

Phoenix, located in Maricopa County, is the largest city in Arizona and also the state capital. Other prominent cities in the Phoenix metro area include Mesa (the third largest city in Arizona and the most populous suburban city in the United States), Glendale, Peoria, Chandler, Sun City, Sun City West, Fountain Hills, Surprise, Gilbert, El Mirage, Avondale, Tempe, Tolleson and Scottsdale, with a total metropolitan population of just over 4 million.

Tucson is the state's second largest city, and is located in Pima County, approximately 110 miles (180 km) southeast of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Tucson metropolitan area crossed the one-million-resident threshold in early 2007. It is home to the University of Arizona, which is a Public Ivy and, along with Arizona State University in Tempe, considered one of the state's flagship universities.

The Prescott metropolitan area includes the cities of Prescott, Sedona, Cottonwood, Camp Verde and numerous other towns spread out over the Yavapai County area. With 212,635 residents, this cluster of towns form the third largest metropolitan area in the state. The city of Prescott (population 41,528) lies approximately 100 miles (170 km) northwest of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Situated in pine tree forests at an elevation of about 5500 ft, Prescott enjoys a much cooler climate than Phoenix, with average summer highs in the upper 80s Fahrenheit and winter temperatures averaging 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yuma is center of the fourth largest metropolitan area in Arizona. It is located near the borders of California and Mexico. It is one of the hottest cities in the United States with the average July high of 107 degrees Fahrenheit. (The same month's average in Death Valley is 115 degrees.) The city also features sunny days about 90% of the year. The Yuma Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 160,000. Yuma also attracts many winter visitors from all over the United States.

Flagstaff is the largest city in northern Arizona, and has a nearly 7000 ft elevation. With its large Ponderosa Pine forests and Ski areas, it is a stark contrast to the desert regions typically associated with Arizona. It sits at the base of the San Francisco Peaks the highest mountain range in the state of Arizona, with Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,850 m). Flagstaff has a strong tourism sector, due to its proximity to Grand Canyon National Park, Sedona, and Oak Creek Canyon. Historic U.S. Route 66 is the main east-west street. Flagstaff is home to 57,391 residents and the main campus of Northern Arizona University.

Public schools in Arizona are separated into about 220 local school districts which operate independently, but are governed in most cases by elected county school superintendents; these are in turn overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education (a division of the Arizona Department of Education) and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction (elected in partisan elections every even-numbered year when there is not a presidential election, for a four-year term). In 2005, a School District Redistricting Commission was established with the goal of combining and consolidating many of these districts.

Despite a state population of over 6.5 million residents, Arizona is served by just three public universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. These schools are governed by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Private higher education in Arizona is dominated by a large number of for-profit and "chain" (multi-site) universities. Only one traditional (single-site, non-profit, four-year) private college exists in Arizona (Prescott College).

Arizona also has a wide network of two-year vocational and community colleges. These colleges were governed historically by a separate statewide Board of Directors, but in 2002, the state legislature transferred almost all oversight authority to individual community college districts. The Maricopa County Community College District includes 11 community colleges throughout Maricopa County and is one of the largest in the nation.

Due to its numerous golf courses, Arizona is home to several stops on the PGA Tour, most notably at the FBR Open, more commonly known as the Phoenix Open.

With three state universities and several community colleges, college sports are also prevalent in Arizona. The intense rivalry between Arizona State University and the University of Arizona predates Arizona's statehood, and is the oldest rivalry in the NCAA. The thus aptly named Territorial Cup, first awarded in 1889 and certified as the oldest trophy in college football, is awarded to the winner of the “Duel in the Desert,” the annual football game between the two schools. Arizona also hosts several bowl games in the Bowl Championship Series. The Fiesta Bowl, originally held at Sun Devil Stadium, will now be held at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The University of Phoenix Stadium was also home to the 2007 BCS National Championship Game and hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008. The Insight Bowl is also held at Sun Devil Stadium.

Besides being home to spring training, Arizona is also home to two other baseball leagues, Arizona Fall League and Arizona Winter League. The Fall League was founded in 1992 and is a minor league baseball league designed for players to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. The league got exposure when Michael Jordan started his time in baseball with the Scottsdale Scorpions. The Arizona Winter League, founded in 2007, is a professional baseball league of four teams for the independent Golden Baseball League. The games are played in Yuma at the Desert Sun Stadium, but added two new teams in the California desert, and one more in Sonora for the 2008 season.

Arizona has featured a continuous string of dancing and performing groups of many ethnicities. The state is a recognized center of Native American art, with a number of galleries such as the Heard Museum showcasing historical and contemporary works. Sedona, Jerome, and Tubac are known as budding artist colonies, and small arts scenes exist in the larger cities and near the state universities.

Many tourist souvenirs produced in Arizona or by its residents display characteristic images, such as sunsets, coyotes, and desert plants. Several major Hollywood films, such as Billy Jack, U-Turn, Waiting to Exhale, Just One of the Guys, Can't Buy Me Love, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Scorpion King, The Banger Sisters, Used Cars, and Raising Arizona have been made there (as indeed have many Westerns). The 1993 science fiction movie Fire in the Sky, which was actually based on a reported alien abduction in Arizona, was set and filmed in the town of Snowflake. The climax of the 1977 Clint Eastwood film The Gauntlet takes place in downtown Phoenix. The final segments of the 1984 film Starman take place at Meteor Crater outside Winslow. The Jeff Foxworthy comedy documentary movie Blue Collar Comedy Tour was filmed almost entirely at the Dodge Theatre. Arguably one of the most famous examples could be Alfred Hitchcock's classic film Psycho. Not only was some of the film shot in Phoenix, but the main character is from there as well. Some of the television shows filmed or set in Arizona include The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Alice, The First 48, Insomniac with Dave Attell, COPS, and America's Most Wanted. The 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, for which Ellen Burstyn won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and also starred Kris Kristofferson, was set in Tucson, as was the TV sitcom Alice, which was based on the movie.

Arizona is prominently featured in the lyrics of many Country and Western songs, such as Jamie O'Neal's hit ballad "There Is No Arizona". George Strait's "Oceanfront Property" uses the offer of "ocean front property in Arizona" as a metaphor for a sucker proposition that is obviously false. The line "see you down in Arizona Bay" is used in a Tool song in reference to a Bill Hicks quote. The line refers to the hope that L.A. will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake.

Arizona's budding music scene is helped by emerging bands, as well as some well-known artists. The Gin Blossoms, Chronic Future, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Jimmy Eat World and others began their careers in Arizona. Also, a number of punk bands got their start in Arizona, including JFA, The Feederz, Sun City Girls, The Meat Puppets, and more recently Authority Zero. There is also an indie rock scene with artists such as Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Bled, Fine China, Greeley Estates, The Stiletto Formal, The Format.

Arizona also has its share of singers and other musicians. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Michelle Branch is from Sedona. Chester Bennington, the lead vocalist of Linkin Park, and mash-up artist DJ Z-Trip are both from Phoenix. One of Arizona's more infamous musicians would be shock rocker Alice Cooper, who helped define the genre. Other notable singers include country singer Marty Robbins, folk singer Katie Lee, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, CeCe Peniston, Rex Allen, 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, and Linda Ronstadt.

For a complete list, see List of people from Arizona.

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Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix (pronounced /ˈfiːˌnɪks/, O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo, Mojave Hachpa 'Anya Nyava) is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,552,259 residents, and is the anchor of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area with 4,179,427 residents. It is currently the largest city in the Southwestern region of the U.S (also known as the "Desert Southwest") and the Mountain West. In addition, Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County, and is one of the largest cities in the United States by land area. By population, it is the largest state capital in the United States.

Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881 after being founded in 1868 near the Salt River, near its confluence with the Gila River. The city eventually became a major transportation hub in North America and a main transportation, financial, industrial, cultural and economic center of the Southwestern United States. The city has a notable and famous political culture. While it has historically been a stronghold for the Republican Party, in recent years, the metropolitan area as a whole and even more clearly, the city itself, have been shifting slowly toward the left. Phoenix has been home to numerous influential politicians, including Barry Goldwater, William Rehnquist, John McCain, Janet Napolitano, Carl Hayden, and Sandra Day O'Connor. Residents of the city are known as Phoenicians.

Located in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix has the most extreme climate of any major city in the United States. The average high temperatures are over 100 °F (38 °C) for almost five months out of the year, and have spiked over 120 °F (49 °C) on occasion.

For more than 1,000 years, the Hohokam peoples occupied the land that would become Phoenix. The Hohokam created roughly 135 miles (217 km) of irrigation canals, making the desert land arable. Paths of these canals would later become used for the modern Arizona Canal, Central Arizona Project Canal, and the Hayden-Rhodes Aqueduct. The Hohokam also carried out extensive trade with nearby Anasazi, Mogollon, and other Mesoamerican tribes.

It is believed that, between 1300 and 1450, periods of drought and severe floods led to the Hohokam’s abandonment of the area. Local Akimel O'odham settlements, thought to be the descendants of the formerly urbanized Hohokam, concentrated on the Gila River alongside those of the Tohono O'odham and Maricopa peoples. Some family groups did continue to live near the Salt River, but no large villages existed.

Father Eusebio Kino, an Italian Jesuit in the service of the Spanish Empire, was among the first Europeans to travel here in the 1600s and 1700s. By this time, the valley was within the territory of New Spain, which was controlled by Spain and later independent Mexico. Father Kino named the river “Río Salado” (Salt River) due to the water’s high mineral content. He interacted with the few native peoples who remained in the valley but focused mostly on the Pima missions established in southern Arizona as well as exploring other parts of the Southwest and California. Only southern Arizona experienced the full influence of Hispanic cultures – the Salt River Valley itself remained almost depopulated for several centuries.

American and European "Mountain Men" likely came through the area while exploring what is now central Arizona during the early 19th century. They obtained valuable American Beaver and North American River Otter pelts; these animals, as well as deer and Mexican Wolves, often lived in the Salt River Valley when water supplies and temperatures allowed.

When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, most of Mexico's northern zone passed to United States control and a portion of it was made the New Mexico Territory (this included what is now Phoenix) shortly afterward. The Gadsden Purchase was completed in 1853. The land was contested ground during the American Civil War. Both the Confederate Arizona Territory, organized by Southern sympathizers in 1861 and with its capital in Tucson, and the United States Arizona Territory, formed by the United States Congress in 1863, with its capital at Fort Whipple (now Prescott, Arizona) included the Salt River Valley within their borders. The valley was not militarily important, however, and did not witness conflict.

In 1863, the mining town of Wickenburg was the first to be established in what is now Maricopa County. At the time this county did not exist, as the land was within Yavapai County along with the other major town of Prescott.

The US Army created Fort McDowell on the Verde River in 1865 to quell Native American uprisings. Hispanic workers serving the fort established a camp on the south side of the Salt River by 1866 that was the first permanent settlement in the valley after the decline of the Hohokam. In later years, other nearby settlements would form and merge to become the city of Tempe, but this community was incorporated after Phoenix.

The history of Phoenix as a city begins with Jack Swilling, an American Civil War veteran who had come west to seek wealth in the 1850s and worked primarily in Wickenburg. On an outing in 1867, he stopped to rest at the foot of the White Tank Mountains. Swilling observed the abandoned river valley and considered its potential for farming, much like that already cultivated by the military further east near Fort McDowell. The terrain and climate were optimal; only a regular source of water was necessary. The existence of the old Hohokam ruins, showing clear paths for canals, made Swilling imagine new possibilities.

Swilling had a series of canals built which followed those of the ancient Native American system. A small community formed that same year about 4 miles (6 km) east of the present city. It was first called Pumpkinville due to the large pumpkins that flourished in fields along the canals, then Swilling's Mill in his honor, though later renamed to Helling Mill, Mill City, and finally, East Phoenix. Swilling, a former Confederate soldier, wanted to name the city "Stonewall," after General Stonewall Jackson. Others suggested the name of "Salina." However, neither name was supported by the community.

Finally, Lord Darrell Duppa suggested the name "Phoenix," as it described a city born from the ruins of a former civilization.

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, which at the time encompassed Phoenix, officially recognized the new town on May 4, 1868, and formed an election precinct. The first post office was established on June 15, 1868, with Jack Swilling serving as the postmaster. With the number of residents growing (the 1870 U.S. census reported about a total Salt River Valley population of 240), a townsite needed to be selected. On October 20, 1870, the residents held a meeting to decide where to locate it. A 320-acre (1.3 km²) plot of land was purchased in what is now the downtown business section.

On February 12, 1871, the territorial legislature created Maricopa County, the sixth one formed, by dividing Yavapai County. The first election for county office was held in 1871, when Tom Barnum was elected the first sheriff. Barnum ran unopposed as the other two candidates, John A. Chenowth and Jim Favorite, had a shootout that ended in Favorite’s death and Chenowth withdrawing from the race.

Several lots of land were sold in 1870 at an average price of $48. The first church opened in 1871, as did the first store. Public school had its first class on September 5, 1872, in the courtroom of the county building. By October 1873, a small school was completed on Center Street (now Central Avenue). Land entry was recorded by the Florence Land Office on November 19, 1873, and a declaratory statement filed in the Prescott Land Office on February 15, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant issued a land patent for the present site of Phoenix on April 10, 1874. The total value of the Phoenix Townsite was $550, with downtown lots selling for between $7 and $11 each. A short time later, a telegraph office, 16 saloons, four dance halls and two banks were open.

By 1881, Phoenix had outgrown its original townsite-commissioner form of government. The 11th Territorial Legislature passed "The Phoenix Charter Bill", incorporating Phoenix and providing for a mayor-council government. The bill was signed by Governor John C. Fremont on February 25, 1881. Phoenix was incorporated with a population of approximately 2,500, and on May 3, 1881, Phoenix held its first city election. Judge John T. Alsap defeated James D. Monihon, 127 to 107, to become the city's first mayor. In early 1888, the city offices were moved into the new City Hall, at Washington and Central (later the site of the city bus terminal, until Central Station was built in the 1990s). This building also provided temporary offices for the territorial government when it moved to Phoenix in 1889.

The coming of the railroad in the 1880s was the first of several important events that revolutionized the economy of Phoenix. Merchandise now flowed into the city by rail instead of wagon. Phoenix became a trade center with its products reaching eastern and western markets. In response, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce was organized on November 4, 1888.

Phoenix also inaugurated an electric streetcar system, built off earlier stagecoach lines, in 1891.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act allowing for dams to be built on western streams for reclamation purposes. Residents were quick to enhance this by organizing the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association on February 7, 1903, to manage the water and power supply. The agency still exists as part of the Salt River Project. The Roosevelt Dam east of the valley was completed in 1911. Several new lakes were formed in the surrounding mountain ranges. In the Phoenix area, the river is now often dry due to large irrigation diversions, taking with it the large populations of migrating birds, beaver dams, and cottonwood trees that had lived on its waters.

On February 14, 1912, under President William Howard Taft, Phoenix became the capital of the newly formed state of Arizona.

Phoenix was considered preferable as both territorial and state capital due to its more central location as compared to Tucson or Prescott. It was smaller than Tucson but outgrew that city within the next few decades to become the state's largest.

In 1913, Phoenix adopted a new form of government from mayor-council to council-manager, making it one of the first cities in the United States with this form of city government.

During World War II, Phoenix's economy shifted to that of a distribution center, rapidly turning into an embryonic industrial city with mass production of military supplies. Luke Field, Williams Field, and Falcon Field, coupled with the giant ground-training center at Hyder, west of Phoenix, brought thousands of new people into Phoenix.

The Papago Park Prisoner of War Camp was established for internment of Japanese Americans. Only a few of its former buildings remain today. In 1944, dozens of prisoners had devised a plan to escape from the camp and use boats to go down the Salt and Gila rivers to reach Mexico. They were apparently unaware that the Salt River had been dry for decades and were thus easily apprehended near the camp.

Another notorious incident took place on Thanksgiving night of 1942, when a large number of U.S. troops stationed near Phoenix rioted while resisting arrest by military police due to engaging in a fight. The military police surrounded and blocked off a predominantly African American part of the city that the troops had escaped to in order to hide. They then dispersed armored personnel carriers and used .50 caliber machine guns on civilian homes. Several fatalities resulted. The Colonel of Luke Field soon declared Army personnel banned from Phoenix, which pressured civic leaders to reform local government by firing a number of corrupt officials, in turn getting the ban lifted. This same bipartisan effort also successfully convinced the city council to give more power to the city manager to run the government and spend public funds.

A fire in October 1947 destroyed most of the streetcar fleet, making the city choose between implementing a new street railway system or using buses. The latter were selected, and automobiles remained the city’s preferred method of transportation.

By 1950, over 100,000 people lived within the city and thousands more in surrounding communities. There were 148 miles (238 km) of paved streets and 163 miles (262 km) of unpaved streets.

Over the next several decades, the city and metropolitan area attracted more growth. Nightlife and civic events concentrated along Central Avenue. By the 1970s, however, there was rising crime and a decline in business within the downtown core.

Arizona Republic writer Don Bolles was murdered by a car bomb in the city in 1976. It was believed that his investigative reporting on organized crime in Phoenix made him a target. Bolles' last words referred to Phoenix land and cattle magnate Kemper Marley, who was widely regarded to have ordered Bolles' murder, as well as John Harvey Adamson, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1977 in return for testimony against contractors Max Dunlap and James Robison. Dunlap was convicted of first degree murder in the case in 1990 and remains in prison, while Robison was acquitted, but pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting violence against Adamson. Street gangs and the drug trade had turned into public safety issues by the 1980s. Van Buren Street, East of downtown (near 24th St), became associated with prostitution. The city's crime rates in many categories have improved since that time, but still exceed state and national averages.

After the Salt River flooded in 1980 and damaged many bridges, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Amtrak worked together and temporarily operated a train service, the "Hattie B." line, between central Phoenix and the southeast suburbs. It was discontinued because of high operating costs and a lack of interest from local authorities in maintaining funding.

The "Phoenix Lights" sightings took place in March 1997. The Baseline Killer and Serial Shooter crime sprees occurred in Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. Steele Indian School Park was the site of a mid-air collision between two news helicopters in July 2007.

Phoenix has maintained a growth streak in recent years, growing by 24.2% since 2000. This makes it the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States following only Las Vegas, whose population has grown by 29.2% since 2000. In 2008, Phoenix was one of the hardest hit by the Subprime mortgage crisis. In early 2009, the median home price was $150,000, down from its $262,000 peak in recent years.The good news is that Phoenix's crime has gone down through the years.

Phoenix is located at 33°26'54" North, 112°4'26" West (33.448457°, -112.073844°) in the Salt River Valley, or "Valley of the Sun", in central Arizona. It lies at a mean elevation of 1,117 feet (340 m), in the northern reaches of the Sonoran Desert.

The Phoenix area is surrounded by the McDowell Mountains to the northeast, the White Tank Mountains to the west, the Superstition Mountains far to the east, and the Sierra Estrella to the southwest. Within the city are the Phoenix Mountains and South Mountains. Current development (as of 2005) is pushing beyond the geographic boundaries to the north and west, and south through Pinal County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 475.1 square miles (1,230.5 km²); 474.9 square miles (1,229.9 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km², or 0.05%) of it is water.

The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (officially known as the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA), is the 13th largest in the United States, with a total population of 4,039,182 as of the June 2006 update of the 2000 U.S. Census. It includes the Arizona counties of Maricopa and Pinal. Other cities in the MSA include Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Peoria. Several smaller communities are also included, such as Cave Creek, Queen Creek, Buckeye, Goodyear, Fountain Hills, Litchfield Park, Anthem, Sun Lakes, Sun City, Sun City West, Avondale, Surprise, El Mirage, Paradise Valley, and Tolleson. The communities of Ahwatukee, Arcadia, Deer Valley, Laveen, Maryvale and others are part of the city of Phoenix, Ahwatukee being separated from the rest of the city by South Mountain.

As with most of Arizona, Phoenix does not observe daylight saving time. In 1973, Gov. Jack Williams argued to Congress that energy use would increase in the evening, as refrigeration units were not used as often in the morning on standard time. He went on to say that energy use would rise "because there would be more lights on in the early morning." He was also concerned about children going to school in the dark, which indeed they were. The exception to this are lands of the Navajo Nation in Northeastern Arizona, which observe daylight saving time in conjunction with the rest of their tribal lands in other states.

Phoenix has an arid climate, with very hot summers and temperate winters. The average summer high temperature is among the hottest of any populated area in the United States and approaches those of cities such as Riyadh and Baghdad. The temperature reaches or exceeds 100°F (38°C) on an average of 110 days during the year, including most days from late May through early September, and highs top 110 °F (43 °C) an average of 18 days during the year. On June 26, 1990, the temperature reached an all-time recorded high of 122 °F (50 °C).

Overnight lows greater than 80 °F (27 °C) occur frequently each summer, with the average July low being 81 °F (27 °C) and the average August low being 80 °F (27 °C). On average, 67 days throughout the year will see the nighttime low at or above 80 °F (27 °C). The all time highest low temperature ever recorded in Phoenix was 96 °F (36 °C), which occurred on July 15, 2003.

Precipitation is sparse during a large part of the summer, but the influx of monsoonal moisture, which generally begins in early July and lasts until mid-September, raises humidity levels and can cause heavy localized precipitation and flooding. Winter months are mild to warm, with daily high temperatures ranging from the mid-60's to low 70's, and low temperatures rarely dipping below 40 °F (4 °C).

Phoenix averages 85% of possible sunshine and receives scant rainfall, the average annual total at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport being 8.3 inches (210 mm). March is the wettest month of the year (1.07 inches or 27 mm) with June being the driest (0.09 inches or 2 mm). Although thunderstorms are possible at any time of the year, they are most common during the monsoon from July to mid-September as humid air surges in from the Gulf of California. These can bring strong winds, large hail, or rarely, tornadoes. Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean occasionally produce significant rains but occur infrequently. Fog is rare but can be observed from time to time during the winter months.

On average, Phoenix has only 5 days per year where the temperature drops to or below freezing. The long-term mean date of the first frost is December 15 and the last is February 1; however, these dates do not represent the city as a whole because the frequency of freezes increases the further one moves outward from the urban heat island. Frequently, outlying areas of Phoenix see frost, but the airport does not. The earliest frost on record occurred on November 3, 1946, and the latest occurred on April 4, 1945. The all-time lowest recorded temperature in Phoenix was 16 °F (-8.8 °C) on January 7, 1913.

Snow is extremely rare in the area. Snowfall was first officially recorded in 1896, and since then, accumulations of 0.1 inches (0.25 cm) or greater have occurred only seven times. The heaviest snowstorm on record dates to January 20, 1937 – January 21, 1937, when 1 to 4 inches (100 mm) fell (2 to 10 cm) in parts of the city and did not melt entirely for four days. Before that, 1 inch (2.5 cm) had fallen on January 20, 1933. On February 2, 1939, 0.5 inches (1 cm) fell.

Most recently, 0.4 inches (1 cm) fell on December 21, 1990 – December 22, 1990. Snow also fell on March 12, 1917, November 28, 1919, and December 11, 1985.

The city of Phoenix is divided up into 15 urban villages. Inside some of the Villages are well-known neighborhoods, or districts, which are listed as subpoints. These urban villages are: Ahwatukee Foothills, Alhambra, Camelback East, Central City, Deer Valley, Desert View, Encanto, Estrella, Laveen, Maryvale, North Gateway, North Mountain, Paradise Valley (not to be confused with the town of Paradise Valley), South Mountain and Rio Vista. Rio Vista was created as New Village in 2004 and is currently very sparsely populated, with no large amount of development expected in the near future.

Commonly referred-to Phoenix regions and districts include Downtown, Midtown, West Phoenix, North Phoenix, South Phoenix, Biltmore Area, Arcadia, Sunnyslope, Ahwatukee.

According to the 2000 census, there were 1,321,045 people, 865,834 households, and 407,450 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,782 people per square mile (1,074/km²). There were 895,832 housing units at an average density of 1,044 per square mile (403/km²).

There were 865,834 households out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-traditional families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.39.

In the city the population age distribution was 28.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,207, and the median income for a family was $46,467. Males had a median income of $32,820 versus $27,466 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,833. 15.8% of the population and 11.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.0% of those under the age of 18 and 10.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

As of 2000, the racial makeup of the Phoenix population was 48.1% White, 5.1% African American, 2.0% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 16.4% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.1% of the population. Since the 2000 census, the non-Hispanic White population in Phoenix dropped below 50%, according to William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.

In 2000, the Phoenix metro area's religious composition was reported as 45% Catholic, 13% LDS (concentrated heavily in the suburb of Mesa) and 5% Jewish. The remaining 37% are largely members of Protestant denominations or are unaffiliated.

The early economy of Phoenix was primarily agricultural, dependent mainly on cotton and citrus farming. In the last two decades, the economy has diversified as swiftly as the population has grown. As the state capital of Arizona, many residents in the area are employed by the government. Arizona State University has also enhanced the area's population through education and its growing research capabilities. Numerous high-tech and telecommunications companies have also recently relocated to the area. Due to the warm climate in winter, Phoenix benefits greatly from seasonal tourism and recreation, and has a particularly vibrant golf industry.

Phoenix is currently home to seven Fortune 1000 companies: waste management company Allied Waste, electronics corporation Avnet, Apollo Group (which operates the University of Phoenix), mining company Freeport-McMoRan (recently merged with Phoenix based Phelps Dodge), retailer PetSmart, energy supplier Pinnacle West and retailer CSK Auto. Honeywell's Aerospace division is headquartered in Phoenix, and the valley hosts many of their avionics and mechanical facilities. Intel has one of their largest sites here, employing about 10,000 employees and 3 chip manufacturing fabs, including the $3 billion state-of-the-art 300 mm and 45 nm Fab 32. American Express hosts their financial transactions, customer information, and their entire website in Phoenix. The area is also home to US Airways Group, a Fortune 500 company located in Tempe also home to Insight Enterprises (also listed on the Fortune 500). Phoenix is also home to the headquarters of U-HAUL International, a rental company and moving supply store, as well Best Western, a hotel chain.

In recent years many Internet companies have opened offices in Phoenix, including but not limited to eBay, Google, AOL, GoDaddy.com, IPowerWeb, and Easynews.

The military has a significant presence in Phoenix with Luke Air Force Base located in the western suburbs. At its height, in the 1940s, the Phoenix area had three military bases: Luke Field (still in use), Falcon Field, and Williams Air Force Base (now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport), with numerous auxiliary air fields located throughout the region.

Phoenix and the surrounding area is home to a broad range of cultural activities including the performing arts, museums, and events.

Several music venues take place around Arizona, but primarily in and around downtown Phoenix and in Scottsdale. One such venue is the Phoenix Symphony Hall, where performances from groups such as Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona often occur. Another venue is the Orpheum Theatre (Phoenix) which is home to the Phoenix Metropolitan Opera. Concerts also regularly make stops in the area. Venues for concerts include the US Airways Center and the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix, Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. Since 2002, Phoenix has also seen a rapid growth in local arts through The Artlink Program. Several Smaller theatres including Trunk Space, Space 55 and Modified Arts support regular independent musical and theatre performances.

Phoenix has been home to numerous popular musicians, mostly of the country and rock genres. Solo artists originally from the area include Duane Eddy, Stevie Nicks, Buck Owens, Wayne Newton, Jordin Sparks, Marty Robbins, CeCe Peniston, Dierks Bentley, and Alice Cooper. Several prominent rock groups have come from the Valley, including Meat Puppets, The Refreshments, Jimmy Eat World, Mr. Mister, Gin Blossoms, and The Tubes.

Several museums are scattered around the valley including the Phoenix Art Museum. One of the most well-known museums in the area is the Heard Museum just north of downtown. It has over 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) of gallery, classroom and performance space. Some of the signature exhibits include a full Navajo hogan, the Mareen Allen Nichols Collection containing 260 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the Barry Goldwater Collection of 437 historic Hopi kachina dolls, and an exhibit on the 19th century boarding school experiences of Native Americans. The Heard Museum attracts about 250,000 visitors a year.

Other notable museums include the Arizona Science Center, Fleischer Museum, Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum, Arizona Historical Society Museum, Phoenix Museum of History, the Phoenix Zoo, and the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park.

The downtown Phoenix art scene has developed in the past decade. The Artlink organization and the galleries downtown have successfully launched a First Friday cross-Phoenix gallery opening.

Phoenix has long been renowned for authentic Mexican food, thanks to both the large Hispanic population and proximity to Mexico. But the recent population boom has brought people from all over the nation, and to a lesser extent from other countries, and has since influenced the local cuisine. International food, such as Korean, Brazilian, and French, has become more common throughout the valley in recent years. However, Mexican food is arguably still the most popular food, with Mexican restaurants found all over the area.

Phoenix is home to several professional sports franchises, including representatives of all four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. - although only two of these teams actually carry the city name and play within the city limits. The first major franchise was the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA), which started play in 1968. In 1997, the Phoenix Mercury was one of the original eight teams to launch the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Both teams play at U.S. Airways Center. The U.S. Airways Center was the setting for both the 1995 and the upcoming 2009 NBA All-Star Games. The Phoenix Flame of the International Basketball League began play in the spring of 2007. They play at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Arizona Cardinals moved to Phoenix from St. Louis, Missouri in 1988 and currently play in the Western Division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. The team, however, has never played in the city itself; they played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in nearby Tempe until 2006. Sun Devil Stadium held Super Bowl XXX in 1996 when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cardinals now play at University of Phoenix Stadium in west suburban Glendale. University of Phoenix Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008, in which the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots. It is also the home of the annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a college football bowl game that is part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Phoenix also has an arena football team, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. Games are played at US Airways Center downtown.

The Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League moved to the area in 1996; they were formerly the Winnipeg Jets franchise.They play at Jobing.com Arena, adjacent to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The city also boasts a minor league hockey team, the Phoenix Roadrunners of the ECHL, who play at the U.S. Airways Center. This makes Phoenix one of the few cities where minor and major league teams in the same sport coexist.

The Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (National League West Division) began play as an expansion team in 1998. The team plays at Chase Field (downtown). In 2001, the Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees 4 games to 3 in the World Series, becoming not only the city's first professional sports franchise to win a national championship while located in Arizona, but also one of the youngest expansion franchise in U.S. professional sports to ever win a championship.

Additionally, due to the favorable climate, nine Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in the metro area, as well as nearby Tucson. These teams are collectively known as the Cactus League.

The Phoenix International Raceway is a major venue for two NASCAR auto racing events per season. Boat racing, drag racing, and road course racing are also held at Firebird International Raceway. Sprint car racing is held at Manzanita Speedway.

Phoenix has also hosted the United States Grand Prix from 1989–1991. The race was discontinued after poor crowd numbers.

Phoenix has also hosted the Insight Bowl at Chase Field until 2005, after which it moved to nearby Tempe, as well as several major professional golf events, including the LPGA's Safeway International and The Tradition of the Champions Tour. Phoenix was originally scheduled to host the 2006 NHL All-Star Game, but it was canceled due to the 2006 Winter Olympics (the recently adopted NHL collective bargaining agreement prohibits the All-Star Game to be held during Olympic years). Instead, Phoenix will host the 2009 All-Star Game.

Phoenix's Ahwatukee American Little League reached the 2006 Little League World Series as the representative from the U.S. West region. Phoenix is one of the three cities that hosts the annual Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon in January.

As of 2007 Phoenix is the largest North American city not to contain a team in any of the four tiers of professional soccer. There is a plan to try to bring Major League Soccer to the city in the shape of the proposed team Phoenix Rising. Phoenix is currently one of thirteen cities across the United States and Canada that are aiming to claim one of two places scheduled to be made available through expansion before 2011. The plan currently includes a suggested $150 million 25,000-seat soccer specific stadium with a retractable roof.

Phoenix is home to a large number of parks and recreation areas. Many waterparks are scattered around the valley to help residents cope with the harsh desert heat during the summer months. Some of the notable parks include Big Surf in Tempe, Waterworld Safari in Glendale, Golfland SunSplash in Mesa, and the Oasis Water Park at the Arizona Grand Resort - formerly known as Pointe South Mountain Resort - in Phoenix. The area also has one amusement park in north Phoenix called Castles N' Coasters, next to the Metrocenter Mall.

Many parks have been established to preserve the desert landscape in areas that would otherwise quickly be developed with commercial and residential zoning. The most noteworthy park is South Mountain Park, the world's largest municipal park with 16,500 acres (67 km2); others include Camelback Mountain, Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park and Sunnyslope Mountain, also known as "S" Mountain. The Desert Botanical Garden displays desert plantlife from deserts all over the world. Encanto Park is the city's largest and primary urban park, and lies just northwest of downtown Phoenix. Papago Park in east Phoenix is home to both the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo, as well as a few golf courses.

The first newspaper in Phoenix was the weekly Salt River Valley Herald, which later changed its name to the Phoenix Herald in 1880.

Today, the city is served by two major daily newspapers: The Arizona Republic (serving the greater metropolitan area) and the East Valley Tribune (serving primarily the cities of the East Valley). In addition, the city is also served by numerous free neighborhood papers and weeklies such as the Phoenix New Times, Arizona State University's The State Press, and the College Times. For 40 years, The Bachelor's Beat, a paid weekly newspaper, has covered local politics while selling ads for area strip clubs and escort services.

The Phoenix metro area is served by many local television stations and is the 12th largest designated market area (DMA) in the U.S. with 1,802,550 homes (1.6% of the total U.S.). The major network television affiliates are KPNX 12 (NBC), KNXV 15 (ABC), KPHO 5 (CBS), KSAZ 10 (FOX), KUTP 45 (MNTV), KASW 61 (CW) and KAET 8 (PBS, operated by ASU). Other network television affiliates operating in the area include KPAZ 21 (TBN), KTVW 33 (Univision), KTAZ 39 (Telemundo), KDPH 48 (Daystar), and KPPX 51 (ION). KTVK 3 (3TV) and KAZT 7 (AZ-TV) are independent television stations operating in the metro area. KAZT broadcasts in digital format only.

The radio airwaves in Phoenix cater to a wide variety of musical and talk radio interests.

Several major feature films have been filmed in the city, including Waiting to Exhale, Song of the South, The Gauntlet, Psycho, Raising Arizona, Jerry Maguire, The Prophecy, Used Cars, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (used as a stand-in for San Dimas, California), U Turn, Eight Legged Freaks, Private Lessons, Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie, Never Been Thawed, Just One of the Guys, Terminal Velocity, Taxi, and The Banger Sisters.

As the capital of Arizona, Phoenix houses the state legislature. In 1913, the commission form of government was adopted. The city of Phoenix is served by a city council consisting of a mayor and eight city council members. The mayor is elected At Large, to a four-year term. Phoenix City Council members are elected to four-year terms by voters in each of the eight separate districts that they represent. The current mayor of Phoenix is Phil Gordon, who was elected to a four-year term in 2003 and re-elected to an additional four-year term in 2007. The mayor and city council members have equal voting power to adopt ordinances and set the policies that govern the city.

Phoenix operates under a council-manager form of government, with a strong city manager supervising all city departments and executing policies adopted by the Council.

Public education in the Phoenix area is provided by over 30 school districts. The Phoenix Union High School District operates most of the public high schools in the city of Phoenix. Charter schools such as North Pointe Preparatory School also exist.

Arizona State University is the main institution of higher education in the region, with campuses located in Tempe, Northwest Phoenix (ASU West Campus), Downtown Phoenix (ASU Downtown Campus) and Mesa (ASU Polytechnic Campus). A branch of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in partnership with Arizona State University is located at the downtown Phoenix campus. ASU is currently one of the largest public universities in the U.S., with a 2007 student enrollment of 64,394. There are also small satellite offices for the University of Arizona (based in Tucson) and Northern Arizona University (based in Flagstaff) located in Phoenix.

Grand Canyon University is the nation’s only private, for-profit, Christian university. Initially a non-profit school started in 1949, it was purchased by three investors who brought it out of bankruptcy. Since the takeover in 2004, enrollment has increased each year. It currently has over 10,000 students; almost 85% attend the school online.

Midwestern University-Glendale is located in Glendale, northwest of Phoenix proper. Founded as a sister school to the original campus in Downers Grove, Illinois, it is home to a number of professional health care education programs at the doctorate and master's level. The degrees offered include the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), Master of Medical Science (MMS) in Physician Assistant Studies, Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD), Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT), Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), and Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM).

Thunderbird School of Global Management is regarded as a leading institution in the education of global managers and has operations in the United States (Glendale), Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Mexico, Central and South America and China, and was ranked number 1 in international business by The Wall Street Journal’s poll of corporate recruiters, U.S. News & World Report, and the Financial Times.

American Indian College is a private, Christian college located in the northwestern section of Phoenix.

The Art Institute of Phoenix is a small, private undergraduate college which offers various majors in the areas of design, fashion, media, and culinary arts. It admitted its first class in 1996.

Western Governors University opened a business office in Phoenix in 2006. WGU is an online non-profit university. Governor Janet Napolitano was on the WGU board until 2008. Former NAU President Clara Lovett was very active in the creation of WGU during its early days. WGU has employees and students in Phoenix and throughout Arizona. In early June 2008, WGU passed current enrollment of 10,000 students spread throughout the U.S.

The University of Phoenix is also headquartered in Phoenix. This is the nation’s largest for-profit university with over 130,000 students at campuses throughout the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Mexico, and the Netherlands, as well as online.

University of Advancing Technology is a small, for-profit university, notable for being a technology-oriented school. Their newly expanded campus is located in Tempe, bordering Phoenix. The university is composed of four colleges, along with an online program for continuing adult education. As of 2009, about 1200 undergraduates and 50 postgraduates enroll at UAT.

Collins College is a for-profit career college focusing on visual arts. It has two campuses, one in Tempe and one in Phoenix. Both campuses are very small and do not include student housing; instead, Collins students must rent apartments in the area. In 2007, the Phoenix Business Journal ranked Collins as Arizona’s top computer training school. Like many for-profit institutions, Collins is nationally accredited and its credits are not accepted by most regionally accredited institutions. In the past, Collins has drawn controversy for abuse of the federal financial aid program.

DeVry University and Argosy University are for-profit institutions with small campuses across the country and a large online presence. Both operate post-secondary schools on the west side of Phoenix.

The Maricopa County Community College District includes ten community colleges and two skills centers throughout Maricopa County, providing adult education and job training. The first community college in the district as well as the state is Phoenix College.

Phoenix is served by Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX), which is centrally located in the metro area near several major freeway interchanges east of downtown Phoenix. Sky Harbor is the ninth-busiest airport in the U.S. and 17th in the world for passenger traffic, handling more than 42 million travelers in 2007. The airport serves more than 100 cities with non-stop flights. Aeromexico, Air Canada, British Airways, and WestJet are among several international carriers as well as American carrier US Airways providing flights to destinations such as Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

The Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA, ICAO: KIWA) in neighboring Mesa also serves the area’s commercial air traffic. It was converted from Williams Air Force Base, which closed in 1993. The airport has recently received substantial commercial service with Allegiant Air opening a focus city operation at the airport with non-stop service to over a dozen destinations.

Smaller airports that primarily handle private and corporate jets include Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (IATA: DVT, ICAO: KDVT), located in the Deer Valley district of northwest Phoenix, as well as municipal airports including Glendale Municipal Airport and Phoenix Goodyear Airport.

Public transportation throughout the metropolitan area is provided by Valley Metro, which operates a system of buses and a rideshare program. 3.38% of work commutes are made by public transit. Valley Metro has completed work on a $1.4 billion, 20-mile (32 km) segment of the light rail project, called the METRO Light Rail, through north-central Phoenix through downtown and then east through Tempe and Mesa. On December 27, 2008, it opened to the public.

Future segments of more than 30 miles (48 km) are planned to open by 2025. Phoenix was the largest U.S. city without a rail transit system from 2004 to 2008 after Houston, Texas, started the METRO light rail.

Amtrak no longer serves Phoenix Union Station since 1996; Phoenix is the largest city proper in the United States without intercity passenger rail service, although service is offered to the metropolitan area. The Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle stop three times a week at Maricopa, thirty miles south of downtown Phoenix (for shuttle and other travel information, see the Texas Eagle site). Amtrak Thruway buses connect Sky Harbor to Flagstaff for connection with the daily Southwest Chief service to Los Angeles and Chicago. Phoenix is served by Greyhound bus service, with the station at 24th Street located near the airport.

For additional information, see: METRO.

Bicycle transportation is a mode that 0.89% of Phoenix commuters utilize, down from 1.12% a decade ago.

The Maricopa Association of Governments has a bicycle advisory committee working to improve conditions for bicycling on city streets and off-road paths.

The street system in Phoenix is laid out in a traditional grid system, with most roads oriented either north-south or east-west. The zero point is the intersection of Central Avenue and Washington Street. Numbered Avenues run north–south west of Central; numbered Streets run north–south east of Central. Major arterial streets are spaced one mile (1.6 km) apart. The one-mile (1.6 km) blocks are divided into approximately 1200 house numbers, although this varies. Scottsdale Road, being 7200 East, is approximately 7200 / 1200 = 6 miles (10 km) east of Central. The Valley Metro bus numbers are also based on this numbering system, with the Central Avenue bus being Route Zero, and Scottsdale Road being Route 72.

Phoenix is served by a growing network of freeways, many of which were initiated by a ½ cent general sales tax measure approved by voters in 1985. Before this network, Interstate 10 and Interstate 17 handled almost all freeway traffic in Phoenix, placing a large burden on surface arterial streets, leading to increased traffic congestion as the area grew in size.

The current freeway system comprises two interstate routes (I-10 and I-17), the nearly transcontinental US 60, and several state highways as well – including SR 51, SR 85, Loop 101, SR 143, and Loop 202.

Eventually, several other state highways (Loop 303, SR 801, and SR 802) will make their way into the system as they are needed.

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The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.

The newspaper was founded May 19, 1890, under the name The Arizona Republican. Back then, it was known for its rather racist points of view, particularly against Native Americans, blacks and Mexicans. Over the years, the newspaper changed its name and its views on race.

Dwight B. Heard, a Phoenix land and cattle baron, ran the newspaper from 1912 until his death in 1929. The paper was then run by two of its top executives, Charles Stauffer and W. Wesley Knorpp, until it was bought by midwestern newspaper magnate Eugene C. Pulliam in 1946. Stauffer and Knorpp had changed the newspaper's name to The Arizona Republic in 1930, and also had bought the rival Phoenix Evening Gazette and Phoenix Weekly Gazette, later known, respectively, as The Phoenix Gazette and the Arizona Business Gazette.

Pulliam, who bought the two Gazettes as well as the Republic, ran all three newspapers until his death in 1975 at the age of 86. A strong period of growth came under Pulliam, who imprinted the newspaper with his conservative brand of politics and his drive for civic leadership. Pulliam was considered one of the influential business leaders who created the modern Phoenix area as it is known today.

Pulliam's holding company, Central Newspapers, Inc., as led by Pulliam's widow and son, assumed operation of the Republic/Gazette family of papers upon the elder Pulliam's death. The Phoenix Gazette was closed in 1997 and its staff merged with that of the Republic. The Arizona Business Gazette is still published to this day.

In 1998, a weekly section geared towards college students, "The Rep", went into circulation. Specialized content is also available in the local sections produced for many of the different cities and suburbs that make up the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Central Newspapers was purchased by Gannett in 2000, bringing it into common ownership with USA Today, the Tucson Citizen (the afternoon newspaper in Tucson which Gannett purchased in 1977) and the local Phoenix NBC television affiliate, KPNX. The Republic often supplements its coverage of Southern Arizona with stories from the Citizen. The Republic and KPNX combine their forces to produce their common local news website, www.azcentral.com. It is the most-visited site in the state of Arizona and is among the most-trafficked newspaper websites in the U.S.

Notable figures include Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist Steve Benson and columnists E.J. Montini and Laurie Roberts. One of Arizona's best-known sports writers, Norm Frauenheim, retired in 2008.

An investigative reporter for the newspaper, Don Bolles, was the victim of a car bombing on June 2, 1976, dying eleven days afterward. He had been lured to a meeting in Phoenix in the course of work on a story and the bomb detonated as he started his car to leave. Retaliation against his pursuit of organized crime in Arizona is thought to be a motive in the murder. The case has not been solved.

The Arizona Republic editorial board endorsed President George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. In local elections, it has recently endorsed Democratic candidates such as former Arizona Governor and now Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and current Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell. On October 25, 2008, the paper endorsed Arizona Senator John McCain for president.

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Barry Hess

Barry J. Hess, II is an investor and United States Libertarian Party activist. He was the Libertarian Party of Arizona candidate for U.S. Senate from Arizona in 2000 finishing 4th of 4 with 70,724 votes (5.06%), and the Libertarian candidate for Governor of Arizona in 2002 (4th of 4 - 1.66%) and 2006 (3rd of 3 - 1.97%). Hess unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in 2000. In 2008 Hess was named the vice president candidate in Arizona for the Boston Tea Party's candidate Charles Jay.

After growing up in Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire, Hess earned a B.A. in English from Fordham University in 1979. After working in Manhattan Hess later relocated to Arizona and has served as vice-chair of the Arizona Libertarian Party.

Hess sought the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in 2000, receiving only 6% of ballots cast in the Libertarian National Convention vote in which Harry Browne won the party's nomination. He went on to receive the Libertarian nomination in the Arizona Senate race. In the general election, where Hess ran in a race where incumbent Republican John Kyl saw no formal Democratic opposition, Hess received 70,724 votes for 5.06% of the total vote.

In 2002, Hess ran for Governor of Arizona as a Libertarian. During his 2002 campaign, Hess admitted to owing the Internal Revenue Service $47,000 in unpaid taxes. Running against Democrat Janet Napolitano, Independent Richard Mahoney, and Republican Matt Salmon, Hess received 20,356 votes for 1.66% of the total.

Hess declared his intention to run for Governor again in November 2005, but delayed his formal announcement as he deliberated whether to run as a Republican or as a Libertarian. In February 2006, Hess announced his candidacy as a Libertarian and was uncontested for his party's nomination. During the campaign, Hess was publicly endorsed by professional wrestler Sean Morley and by Republican Mike Harris, who was defeated in his own party's primary. In the general election, Hess garnered 30,268 votes for 1.97% of the total vote against Democrat Janet Napolitano and Republican Len Munsil.

In 2006, he appeared as guest on the TV show "Louis Live" to promote his candidacy for governor of Arizona.

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Arizona gubernatorial election, 2002

The 2002 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on 5 November 2002 for the post of Governor of Arizona. Democratic Arizona Attornry General Janet Napolitano defeated Republican former Congressman Matt Salmon.

Napolitano defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary.

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Matt Salmon

Matthew James "Matt" Salmon (born January 21, 1958) is a former Republican Congressional Representative from Arizona. In 2002, he lost to Janet Napolitano in a highly competitive Arizona governor's race.

Salmon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona in 1976. He later went on to attend Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona in 1981. In 1986 he graduated with a master's in public administration from Brigham Young University, later becoming a telecommunications executive and community affairs manager.

Based on his telecommunications and community affairs experience, Salmon decided in 1991 to run for elected office. He served as a member of the Arizona Senate from 1991–95. From 1993–95 he was the assistant majority leader.

In 1994 he was elected as a Republican to the 104th and to the two succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1995–January 3, 2001). During his first Congressional election campaign, term limits were a high-profile issue. Salmon was one of many candidates nationwide who pledged to serve only three terms in Congress. He honored his campaign pledge and did not stand for reelection to the 107th Congress in 2000.

Salmon was instrumental obtaining the January 29, 2000 release of U.S. based academic researcher Song Yongyi from detention in China on spying charges.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Arizona in 2002. After that race, he served as a lobbyist and chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

In 2008, he became President of the Competitive Telecommunications Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade association.

Matt Salmon is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Len Munsil

Len Munsil is an Arizona Republican Party activist and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Arizona in the Arizona gubernatorial election, 2006. He was defeated by incumbent Janet Napolitano in the general election on November 7, 2006.

Conservative Len Munsil is most well known as the founder of the Center for Arizona Policy , a public policy organization emphasising socially conservative issues.

Munsil attended Arizona State University and achieved early notoriety when he became the editor of the university's newspaper, The State Press. Under Munsil the editorial direction of the paper became aggressively conservative--particularly toward faculty members viewed by Munsil and his student journalist colleagues as too leftist.

Munsil has been a licensed attorney for 17 years. He is admitted to practice in Arizona and federal courts, including eight U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal and the United States Supreme Court. He has authored numerous amicus curiae briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court. Munsil served in a judicial clerkship for Judge Daniel A. Manion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and was appointed by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington to the Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Council.

In 2007, Munsil founded an Arizona political action committee PRO-PAC, which stands for "Principled Reaganesque Outcomes." The mission of PRO-PAC is three-fold: 1) Educate officials, potential candidates and citizens about the conservative message of President Reagan, 2) Make independent expenditures to help elect Reagan Republicans in 2008 and beyond, and 3) Expand the base of the Republican Party in Arizona and encourage many additional thoughtful conservatives to get involved at the grassroots level.

In 2008, Munsil became an adjunct professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Southwestern College in Phoenix, Arizona.

Munsil and his wife, Tracy, have eight children.

During the campaign, Munsil was endorsed by four Republican Congressmen from Arizona: Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, Rick Renzi, and John Shadegg. He was also endorsed by Senator John McCain and more than 30 state legislators. .

Early polls suggested that Munsil had significant ground to make up in the primary, indicating in July that he had a mere 12% of Republican voters behind him. Don Goldwater, nephew of the late U.S. Senator and U.S. presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, came in second in a four-way Republican Primary Election on Sept. 12th. Munsil received 50.6% of the vote, while Goldwater garnered only 39.7%. Mike Harris earned 6.1% and Gary Tupper mustered 3.7%.

In the general election, just 8 weeks later, Munsil himself was defeated by incumbent Governor Janet Napolitano by a 62.6% to 35.4% margin.

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United States Secretary of Homeland Security

The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The position was created following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.

On January 20, 2009, the Senate confirmed Barack Obama's appointment of Janet Napolitano to be the third Secretary of Homeland Security. However, Michael Chertoff did not resign until 9 a.m. on January 21, 2009.

Traditionally, the order of the presidential line of succession is determined (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate) by the order of the creation of the cabinet positions, and is mandated as such under 3 U.S.C. § 19.

On March 9, 2006, President Bush signed H.R. 3199 as Pub.L. 109-177, which renewed the Patriot Act and amended the Presidential Succession Act to include the Secretary of Homeland Security in the line of succession after the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (§ 503). In the 109th Congress, legislation was introduced to place the Secretary of Homeland Security into the line of succession after the Attorney General but that bill expired at the end of the 109th Congress and has not been re-introduced.

Prior to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, there existed an Assistant to the President for the Office of Homeland Security, which was created following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

As of January 2009, all former Secretaries of Homeland Security are living.

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