Janet Napolitano

Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAN : Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano (b. November 29, 1957) is the current governor of the U.S. state of Arizona, elected in 2002. She is Arizona's third female governor. Born in New York City of partial Italian heritage (on her father's side), and raised a Methodist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, she graduated from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, and then from the University of Virginia School of Law (Juris Doctor). Napolitano is a member of the Democratic Party (United States). Her early professional career was as a Phoenix-area prosecuting attorney.

In November 2005, Time magazine named her one of the five best governors in the U.S. In February 2006, TheWhiteHouseProject.org[link] named Janet Napolitano one of its "8 in '08", a group of eight female politicians who could possibly run and/or be elected president in 2008.

In May 2006, she received an honorary doctor of laws degree presented by Peter Likins, president of the University of Arizona, on behalf of Toni Massaro, dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law.

Contents

1 Political career
2 Administration policies
3 Quotes
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Political career

In 1993, Napolitano was appointed by President Bill Clinton as United States attorney for the District of Arizona. As U.S. attorney, she was heavily 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 state attorney general in 1998. Her tenure focused on consumer protection issues and improving general law enforcement. Later on, Napolitano was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent a mastectomy.

She won the 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. Her strongest electoral support came from low-income, women, and Latino voters. Napolitano was the first female US governor to succeed another.

Some initially considered Napolitano to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election but Sen. John Edwards was selected instead. She appeared at Kerry campaign events and spoke out against passage of Proposition 200, an initiative to limit state benefits to illegal immigrants that would go on to be approved by voters.

On major issues, Napolitano supports legal abortion and the death penalty for serious crimes. In early 2005 she proposed that a possible future vote on a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage be held that year instead of in 2006, citing her questioning of the validity of such a measure given that it was already banned under state law. This move instigated controversy with conservative legal groups planning to campaign for the measure.

She was the Recruitment Chair for the Democratic Governors Association for 2005-2006.

Administration policies

As governor, Napolitano has promoted all-day kindergarten, restricting water usage, and increased public health spending. She has been a strong proponent of biotechnology development and public-private collaboration on related projects, especially within the state university system.

Arizona's security has been a prominent theme in recent events affecting her administration. In March 2003, amidst fears of a terrorist attack on targets in Arizona in the wake of the Iraq war, she dispersed US National Guard troops to the Palo Verde nuclear power plant facility west of Phoenix. Continued and growing illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border has led her to increase somewhat efforts in this area, however she has largely vetoed much border protection legislation that has come across her desk. In August 2005, Napolitano declared a state of emergency effective in Arizona's Mexican border counties, following a similar declaration by New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Neither of these efforts have borne much fruit and both are largely considered to be political grandstanding.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} The continuing statewide drought, reforming the troubled Child Protective Services system, and the January 2004 hostage crisis at Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis (the longest in US history) have presented serious challenges to her as well.

Napolitano's usual position on budget issues has been to defend education and health expenditures as "investing in what matters", citing the benefits of economic growth and some improvements in Arizona's generally low social indicators. Faced with an extremely conservative State Legislature on June 6, 2006 she issued her 115^th veto, breaking the record previously held by former Governor Bruce Babbitt during his nine years in office. Napolitano had previously set the veto record during a single legislative session with 58 vetos in 2005. By the end of June 2006 her total had grown to 127 vetoes.

Quotes

"Renewing our schools, building a better economy, being good stewards of our water and our land, increasing the availability of health care and improving the security of our state: these are my goals and dreams for Arizona." (State of the State Address, January 10, 2005)

References

External links

|- style="text-align: center;"