PHOENIX (AP) – Rose Mofford, Arizona’s first female governor and a shepherd for the state during a period of political turbulence, died Thursday, a former spokeswoman said.
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She died at a hospice she went to last month after being injured in a fall, Ms. Mofford’s former spokeswoman and longtime friend Athie Hardt said.
During her time in office, 1988-1991, the Democrat formed the Governor’s Alliance Against Drugs, the Governor’s Youth Commission Against Drugs, and created Arizona’s first Drug Prevention Resource Center.
She was elected secretary of state in 1978 and won re-election twice.
Mofford finished her predecessor’s term but decided not to run in the 1990 governor’s race to try to keep the job. She was succeeded by Fife Symington, who later resigned amid a real estate scandal in 1997. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
Valley Bar in downtown Phoenix is celebrating the life of Rose Mofford tonight.
Mofford, who grew up in Globe, was one of the few governors from outside of Maricopa and she brought a sense of calm, stability and continuity to the office, said Lesher, who is now deputy Pima County administrator for community and health services. She also pushed legislation that kept baseball spring training in Arizona, and established a task force on the HIV-AIDS epidemic.
A sad day today with the passing of Gov Rose Mofford – AZ’s first female governor.
At 18, she became a secretary to the state treasurer and within a decade was executive secretary to the state tax commission. It was a position she held for more than a decade.
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The former governor played softball for the amateur softball team, Arizona Cantaloupe Queens in 1939. She married Lefty Mofford and they later divorced, according to azcentral.
