Deaths: Former Arizona Gov. Jane Dee Hull, a Republican who served from 1997 until 2003, died Thursday at the age of 84. Hull was the second woman to serve as the state’s governor, as well as the first to win the post in an election. During her time in office, Hull set up the state’s version of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program and pushed for a successful sales tax increase to fund education. Hull also signed legislation that repealed the state’s ban on sodomy and cohabitation, saying, “I choose not to judge the conduct of others, even when I know others will judge me for signing this bill.”
Hull got her start in office when she was elected to the state House in 1978, and she soon earned a reputation as an ardent conservative. As majority leader, Hull was also the first Republican to call for GOP Gov. Evan Mecham to resign as the legislature prepared to impeach him for misuse of public funds and obstruction of justice. Mecham didn’t listen, though, and Hull’s colleagues removed him from office in 1988. In Arizona, both then and now, the secretary of state is next in line for governor, and Democrat Rose Mofford was elevated to the governorship.
Hull went on to become the first woman to serve as speaker, and she was in charge in 1991 when several members were caught taking bribes from fake casino operators in a scandal nicknamed “AzScam.” Hull pressured these representatives to resign by taking away their committee assignments, and she told the ones who wouldn’t quit not to appear on the House floor. Hull also shed her old conservative reputation during her time as a legislative leader, and she even pushed through tax increases. Hull would also say in 1997 about her views on abortion, “Actually, both sides dislike me, probably pretty intently.”
Hull resigned in 1993 saying she was tired of the “meanness” in the legislature, and she soon launched a bid for secretary of state. Hull won an unexpectedly close primary the following year but decisively prevailed in November, and her victory made her the first Republican to hold this office in more than 60 years. But while Hull was elected to what was usually a low-profile job, she was thrust into the spotlight in 1997 when GOP Gov. Fife Symington was convicted for bank fraud. Symington resigned, and for the second time in a decade, the secretary of state became governor.
Unlike Mofford, Hull sought a full term as governor. While several Republicans considered challenging her for the nomination before she was sworn in, Hull decisively won both the primary and general election: Women won all the other state’s top posts in 1998, a first in American history. Hull also made waves when she endorsed George W. Bush for president over home state Sen. John McCain, whom she’d often come into conflict with.
The state constitution’s two term limit prevented Hull from running again in 2002 even though she’d only served part of one term, but she soon made it clear she was done with politics anyway: When Hull was asked in 2005 if she’d run again she responded, “Oh, God, no!”