The 1994 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1994, for the post of

Governor of Arizona A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Fife Symington John Fife Symington III (born August 12, 1945) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 19th governor of Arizona from 1991 until 1997. Symington, who is a member of the Republican Party, resigned from office in 1997 following ...

, the incumbent Republican

, defeated the Democratic nominee

Eddie Basha Edward Najeeb Basha Jr. (August 24, 1937 – March 26, 2013) was the Chairman & CEO of Bashas', Inc., a grocery store chain in Arizona. His father, Eddie Basha Sr., and his uncle, Ike Basha, founded Bashas' in 1932. The first store under the ...

to win a second term in office. However, Symington resigned in 1997 due to a federal indictment on corruption charges.

Republican primary

In the Republican primary, incumbent Governor Fife Symington was challenged by businesswoman

Barbara Barrett Barbara McConnell Barrett (born December 26, 1950) is an American businesswoman, attorney and diplomat who served as the United States secretary of the Air Force from 2019 to 2021. She is also an instrument-rated pilot, and cattle and bison ranche ...

, wife of business executive Craig Barrett. Symington announced his primary campaign by stating, "I vowed to get state spending under control, reduce taxes and do my best to promote economic development and restore strength to the economy. I think I am in a strong position because I accomplished my goals." Barrett spent more than $1 million of her own money in the attempt to defeat Symington, who she stated she did not dislike personally, but simply felt that she could do a better job as governor. On September 13, 1994, Symington defeated Barrett in the primary by a margin of 68% to 32%. Political analysts stated that Barrett had failed to distinguish herself from the incumbent governor, and ran a flawed campaign.

Candidates

, businesswoman *

, incumbent governor

Results

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, 1990 Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Phoenix Mayor

Terry Goddard Samuel Pearson "Terry" Goddard III (born January 29, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona from 1984 to 1990 and as the 24th attorney general of Arizona from 2003 to 2011. He is a member of the ...

attempted to seek the Democratic nomination once again, but was challenged by Paul Johnson, who was also a former mayor of Phoenix, and

Arizona Board of Regents The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) is the governing body of Arizona's public university system. It provides policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona. History In 1885, the territori ...

member

, more famous for his involvement with the grocery store chain

Bashas' Bashas' is a grocery store chain, primarily located in Arizona, with two locations outside the state in Crownpoint, New Mexico, and Shiprock, New Mexico. Its headquarters are in Chandler. As of December 15, 2021, Bashas' is owned and operated by ...

. In the primary held on September 13, Basha defeated Goddard by a very small margin, with Johnson receiving a sizable level of support as well.

Candidates

, Arizona Board of Regents and businessman *

, former mayor of Phoenix and 1990 Democratic gubernatorial nominee * Paul Johnson, former mayor of Phoenix

Results

General election

Following the 1990 election, in which a

run-off election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

was held in order to deter the possibility of a candidate winning with less than a plurality of all of the votes cast, as was the case with the 1986 election in which

Evan Mecham Evan Mecham ( ; May 12, 1924 – February 21, 2008) was an American businessman and the List of governors of Arizona, 17th governor of Arizona, serving from January 5, 1987, until his Impeachment by state and territorial governments of the United ...

was elected with only 39.96% of the vote, the 1994 election did not have a runoff. This was due to a measure that was approved by voters to eliminate the runoff system, which was marred by a longer than usual campaign and issues surrounding the date of when the runoff should be held.

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Cochise Cochise ( ; Apache: or , ; later or , ; June 8, 1874) was the leader of the Chiricahui local group of the Chokonen and principal nantan of the Chokonen band of a Chiricahua Apache. A key war leader during the Apache Wars, he led an upri ...

Greenlee Greenlee is an American industrial and electrical tool company headquartered in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1862 by twin brothers Robert L. and Ralph S. Greenlee to manufacture their invention called a hollow chisel mortiser, consist ...

* Pima * Yuma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arizona Gubernatorial Election, 1994

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1994 United States gubernatorial elections

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...