Word: mecham
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Within hours of his conviction, Symington, 52, a Republican, resigned from office and thus became the second Arizona Governor in a decade to step down as a result of scandal. Governor Evan Mecham, a former car dealer, was impeached and removed from office in 1988 on charges of obstructing justice and misusing state money. He was acquitted of separate charges in a criminal trial...
...endless leaks are over," he told a news conference. "At long last the day in court is now near." Predicting that "a jury will judge me innocent," Symington said he had no intention of stepping down--even though he jump-started his own political career by urging Governor Evan Mecham to do so, when Mecham was indicted in 1988 (and later acquitted) for concealing a campaign loan...
Arizonans, beaten down by the Evan Mecham and S&L king Charles Keating scandals, may have little patience for leaving Symington in office--even though in a way it seems their prayers were answered. Says Jerry Colangelo, a principal owner of the Phoenix Suns: "No one can argue that the state [isn't] in the best financial shape it has been for years...
Modern times have not altered the tradition much. In the past three years, the state has seen the impeachment of Governor Evan Mecham for misuse of state funds; the arrest of seven legislators on bribery charges; allegations that Arizona's two Senators were involved in the Keating Five influence-peddling scandal; and the conviction of a prominent savings and loan chief on 17 counts of securities fraud. "It seems we have an unlucky star over our heads," said former Governor Bruce Babbitt, the state's cleanest political light. "Now we'd all like it to pass over the horizon...
Arizona has an image problem. Almost three years ago, Governor Evan Mecham was impeached for misusing state funds. Last November voters turned down a , referendum to make Martin Luther King Day a paid state holiday, touching off boycotts that may deprive Arizona of the 1993 Super Bowl. Last week a major political scandal rocked the state as a grand jury charged seven legislators, five lobbyists and five others with felonies including bribery, money laundering and filing false campaign statements...