Gov. Janet Napolitano
Immigration, the environment, and leading a “purple” state.
By Ben Adler and Zach Marks, Yale University
June 22, 2007
By Ben Adler and Zach Marks, Yale University
Friday June 22, 2007
Named one of the five best governors in the U.S. by Time magazine in 2005, Janet Napolitano is serving her second term as governor of Arizona. Her national profile grew even larger when The White House Project named her one its “8 in ’08,” a list of eight women who might be elected president in 2008. After winning the 2002 gubernatorial election, which Arizona newspapers called the “tightest and ugliest race for governor in memory,” Napolitano turned the state’s billion-dollar deficit into a billion-dollar surplus without raising taxes. She has worked to improve public education, offering full-day kindergarten and raising teacher pay, defending education spending as “investing in what matters.” Before becoming governor, the breast cancer survivor represented Anita Hill in her case against Clarence Thomas, served as U.S. attorney and then as Arizona’s attorney general. Campus Progress caught up with Napolitano, the first female Chair of the National Governors Association, to talk about immigration, the environment and leading a “purple” state.
Campus Progress: Arizona’s a state with massive immigration. What do you think about the immigration bill that was recently proposed in the Senate?
Janet Napolitano: I’m governor of a state where in 2005 the border patrol had 550,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants. We are at the forefront of where the border broke down. To fix that you need to deal with the border security’s law enforcement. That means more border patrol, more technology at the border. But you also have to deal with, at the end of the line, labor and economic issues that are going on. That means dealing with the 12 million already in this country. It means dealing with a temporary worker program. It means revising our visa system. It means having employer sanctions that are tough and that are enforced. The Senate bill is not a perfect bill. But it does include all of those basic elements, from border security through employer sanctions. From where I sit, Congress has already delayed far too long dealing with this issue.
How are you dealing with the environmental impact of Arizona population growth?
We’re at 6.2 million now; Arizona will be over 12 million within the next 15 years or so. How do you do that and have that kind of growth in an environment during a serious drought? It involves water planning. It involves transit and transportation. It involves climate change. We are doing so many things in this area from a very aggressive climate change initiative to an air quality initiative to a thorough examination of how we are managing our open spaces. I created a growth cabinet just to deal with the issues relating to growth with a statewide vision and a statewide jurisdiction.
Speaking of climate change, how are you mitigating the impact of all the new houses and new highways? Are you making an effort to try to make communities build denser, more walkable and mass transit-accessible?
We’ve already instituted light rail right through the center of Maricopa County which is our most populous county. We’re examining options for a major rail between Maricopa, which is the greater Phoenix area, and Tucson. We have a whole climate change advisory group and have had that for quite some time looking at fuel standards. We’re part of a five-state compact with California, Washington, New Mexico and Oregon on climate change. I think some other states are getting ready to join us as well, including having our own cap-and-trade program.
With women still very underrepresented in high political office, what do you think about the role of women in politics? How much progress have you seen and how much more do you think you’re likely to see?
I hope at some point never to have to answer that question; that it’s taken for granted that a candidate for president or governor or senator can be male or female and depend only on the qualifications of the individual. I remember when I announced that I was running for attorney general back in 1998 and my supporters said, “Janet, do you intend to run as a female attorney general?” I answered, “Of course.” Underlying the question was, “Is your agenda going to be different as a woman?” Each individual’s agenda is different driven in part by personal experience and that’s to be expected. I think we will see over time an increase in the number of women in the Senate and in Congress. I’m a little mystified as to why more women haven’t ascended to governorships, but I think we will see more of that as time goes on. We are going to see a woman in the presidency in our lifetimes.
As a former federal prosecutor, what are your thoughts on the whole Justice Department scandal?
I’m appalled. It’s outrageous what happened with the U.S. attorneys, speaking as a former U.S. attorney. It’s outrageous what’s been done in the Department of Justice. I cannot fathom that Attorney General Gonzales remains in office under these circumstances.
There’s a lot of discussion in Washington about the Southwest as an emerging “purple” region. Your state is historically very conservative. Is it changing?
I think we need to be careful of stamping states as “red” or “blue” because I don’t think people stamp themselves individually as “red” or “blue.” In the states out here in the inner Mountain West, people cross over. The fastest growing group of voters is registered independents; they’re neither party. They’re looking for what I call progressive pragmatism. How do we move the country forward? How do we do so in a pragmatic way? If you speak with them and talk about their hopes, their dreams, their fears, and what you will do to address them, I’ve found voters to be very responsive.
Illustration: August J. Pollak
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The author neglected to ask her why she tried getting 3 Border Patrol Agents fired while she was US Atty. When she had to appear at a hearing to answer why she had them fired she refused to appear and substantiate her allegations against the 3. Johnny Sutton has nothing on Janet.
— Rich Pierce - Jun 22, 02:00 PM - #As an Arizona resident, I have been continually impressed by Gov. Napolitano. She is fair-minded and very sharp. Though I do not ALWAYS agree with her decisions, I am always confident that she makes them having investigated every avenue and having considered the best option – even when the best option is not popular. I really look forward to watching her continue to climb the political ranks as my generation moves into a more prominent electoral position.
— Heather Farley - Jun 22, 03:31 PM - #I voted for Napolitano. She seems like a nice person with good intentions. She hasn’t been charged with any felonies so far and that’s pretty good for an Arizona govenor.
Sadly, population issues and illegal immigration have continued to worsen during her administration. That’s not entirely her fault. Despite meaning well, she’s in a bind because the Democratic party in this state is funded by real estate developers.
So there you have it. Urban sprawl makes public transporation less effective and illegals are heavily utilized in the contruction trades.
— RAGGEDSTEP - Jun 30, 09:57 AM - #Lets face it. Arizona has been a “red” State since 2000, including the Legislature. Yet, Governor Napolitano, a feisty and spunky democrat, keeps on winning and continues to move Arizona forward in a very positive way that is greatly admired and well appreciated by all. Bravo Janet!
— Lance Ciepiela - Jun 30, 04:17 PM - #An outstanding governor and the best governor Arizona has had in a long, long time.
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