Arizona

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Categories: United States of America | Arizona

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Arizona is that big square shaped state in the Southwest between California and New Mexico. Home to the Grand Canyon, Arizona was previously part of Mexico and it still retains a variant of the Mexican community property system to govern marital property rights. It is growing rapidly, from Mexican immigrant and from transplants often seeking retirement homes from colder climes, and this in turn has generated lots of business. Arizona is currently a Red State but is trending somewhat Democratic.

Arizona currently leads the nation is per capita car thefts, averaging more than one vehicle stolen for every 100 residents. Large pick-ups and SUVs are the most common vehicle stolen in the state.

While the Republican Party has long dominated Arizona, the state did support one recent Democratic candidate, Bill Clinton in 1996. In 2004, George W. Bush easily won the state's ten electoral votes by a margin of 11 percentage points with 54.9% of the vote. Democrats are strongest in Tucson, Yuma, and Santa Cruz and Apache counties.

1 State Facts
2 Largest Cities
3 Racial Composition
4 Nativism
5 Arizona Congressional Delegation
6 Arizona State Government
7 Arizona Counties and Cities
8 Elections
9 Talking Arizona Politics, News, Etc.
10 Political Blogs
11 See also

State Facts

Abbreviation: AZ, Ariz.
Admitted to the Union: February 14, 1912 (48)
Population (2000): 5,130,632 (20)
Population (2008): 6,500,180 (14) - (+ 26.69%)
Capital: Phoenix
Largest City: Phoenix
State Bird: Cactus
State Flower: Saguaro Cactus Blossom
State Nicknames: The Grand Canyon State – The Copper State
State Motto: Ditat Deus (God Enriches)

Largest Cities

Phoenix (1,552,259)
Tucson (525,529)
Mesa (452,933)
Glendale (253,152)
Chandler (246,399)
Scottsdale (235,677)
Gilbert (207,550)
Tempe (174,091)
Peoria (146,743)
Yuma (88,687)
Flagstaff (59,746)

Racial Composition

Caucasian/White: 4,701,013 (76.4%)
Hispanic/Latino: 1,785,737 (29.0%)
Some Other Race: 661,797 (10.8%)
Native American: 276,132 (4.5%)
African American/Black: 210,069 (3.4%)
Two or More Races: 149,897 (2.4%)
Asian: 144,389 (2.3%)
Pacific Islander: 8,878 (0.1%)

Nativism

Arizona isn't part of the Bible Belt and social conservatism isn't important for many conservative Republicans. Arizona's Rep. Jim Kolbe was the only openly gay Republican U.S. Congressman until his retirement. However the state is in forefront of the legal construction of America's new anti-Hispanic apartheid. In 2004, voters adopted Proposition 200, a ballot initiative that barred undocumented immigrants from receiving tax-payer funded health and welfare services. "Work for us but don't expect to be treated like a human being," was the selfish political message of the middle class Anglo philistines. In 2006, 74% of Arizona voters were hoodwinked into voting to make English the state's official language. Twenty-six percent bucked the nativist majority and voted for inclusion. Conservative Arizonans might gabble about freedom but that doesn't prevent them from telling people exactly which language they have to use to conduct business with the state. For conservative Republicans "liberty" means nothing more than what some local majority will allow.

Arizona Congressional Delegation

U.S. Senate
- Senior Senator: John McCain (R)
- Junior Senator: Jon Kyl (R)

U.S. House of Representatives
- AZ-01: Paul Gosar (R-Flagstaff)
- AZ-02: Trent Franks (R-Glendale)
- AZ-03: Ben Quayle (R-Phoenix)
- AZ-04: Ed Pastor (D-Phoenix)
- AZ-05: David Schweikertl (R-Tempe)
- AZ-06: Jeff Flake (R-Mesa)
- AZ-07: Raúl Grijalva (D-Tucson)
- AZ-08: Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson)

Arizona State Government

Executive Branch
- Governor: Jan Brewer (R)
- Secretary of State: Ken Bennett (R)
- Attorney General: Terry Goddard (D)
- State Treasurer: Doug Ducey (R)
- Superintendent of Public Instruction: John Huppenthal (R)
- State Mine Inspector: Joe Hart (R)