Tough politician left modest state legacy

(PNI) Becoming head of the California university system probably brings an end to Janet Napolitano's career as an Arizona politician.

It's been an odd story. Napolitano dominated her political party more than any other state politician in the modern era. At the zenith of her power, in 2006 and 2007, she defined the center of Arizona politics. Yet, today, there's not a trace of her influence or legacy. It's as though she never was governor.

Napolitano was barely elected governor in 2002, with the second-lowest percentage of the vote (46percent) in Arizona history. In 2006, she was re-elected in a stunning victory that defied the laws of political physics.

In 2002, Napolitano owed her victory to Pima County. She lost the balance of the state and carried a bare majority of the counties. She lost Republican-dominated Maricopa County by 25,000 votes.

In 2006, Napolitano won with 63percent of the vote, the largest margin for a gubernatorial candidate since Bruce Babbitt's re-election victory in 1982. She carried all 15 counties. She won Maricopa County by more than 200,000 votes.

Her opponent in that race, Len Munsil, was relatively unknown and didn't have enough money to really make a game of it. But Munsil was no slouch, and even a better known and financed opponent would have gotten trounced. At that time, Napolitano was a comfortable fit for the Arizona body politic.

Before Napolitano, the Arizona Democratic Party was still feeling the reverberations of the rivalry between Babbitt and former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini. The rivalry was never destructive, and by the time Napolitano was elected governor, both had been out of elected office for quite a while. But Democratic politicians were still frequently known as being from the Babbitt or DeConcini camps.

Napolitano superseded all that. Helped by party Chairman Jim Pederson's largesse, she dominated the state Democratic Party and had no rival. She was the unquestioned and unchallenged queen bee.

She also mastered the Republican Arizona Legislature. During her first term, state general fund spending increased nearly 70percent. Three consecutive years, the increase was more than 15percent. And for the most part, legislative Republicans voted for those budgets. She also vetoed more bills than any governor in Arizona history, 58 in one year alone.

The spending spree was fueled by housing-bubble-related revenue. The bottom was falling out about the time Napolitano was splitting for Washington, D.C., to become President Obama's Homeland Security secretary.

I give Napolitano a pass on her tenure at Homeland Security. The agency shouldn't exist. It's too big to be effective or effectively managed. It had to drive Napolitano, who was a bit of a control freak while governor, nuts on occasion. On the other hand, it was probably good training for overseeing large universities, which are also generally unmanageable.

Back in Arizona, all of Napolitano's gains were erased by the fiscal tsunami that hit state revenue. State spending remains well below the Napolitano peaks. Her signature reform, state-paid all-day kindergarten, has been repealed.

Nor did Napolitano leave a political legacy. She never did have coattails. No Democrat won a statewide race in 2010 or 2012. In fact, today, for the first time in Arizona history, there is not a single Democrat holding statewide elected office. And no Democratic politicians are thought of as from the Napolitano camp.

The last Democrat elected to the governorship before Napolitano, Babbitt, never dominated state politics the way she did. He didn't try. He took a largely hands-off approach to the Republican-controlled Legislature, monitoring it rather than trying to master it.

Instead, Babbitt concentrated on getting a few things done of importance to him. The state is still guided today by two of his legacy projects: the groundwater law and the urban lands act.

All that's left of the Napolitano governorship, despite her extraordinary political dominance, is a portrait on a wall.

Reach Robb at robert.robb @arizonarepublic.com.

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