[OP-ED] By Joseph A. Kanefield, who previously served as an assistant Arizona attorney general, state election director and Gov. Jan Brewer’s general counsel.
The Arizona Republic
Whether Gov. Jan Brewer can run for reelection, in light of Arizona’s term limits law, has been the subject of much debate. Based on a careful reading of the Arizona Constitution, the risk of gamesmanship from an overly strict interpretation, and the public policy grounded in voter choice, the best interpretation is that Gov. Brewer can run for another elected four-year term should she so desire.
At first glance, the term limits provision in the Arizona Constitution appears to count any partial term served by a state executive officer as a full term. It says, “No member of the executive department after serving the maximum number of terms, which shall include any part of a term served, may serve in the same office until out of office for no less than one full term.”
The phrase “part of a term served,” however, was intended to apply only to an elected or appointed partial term rather than one in which a governor inherits the office by constitutional succession, as then-Secretary of State Brewer did in 2009 after Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to join the Obama administration.
