Governor Jan Brewer has won her bid for a second term with a decisive 55% to 41% victory over Attorney General Terry Goddard. In Mesa, it was “Cubs win! Cubs win!” as the Yes on 420 – Keep the Cubs campaign cruised to a 63% to 36% win.
The HighGround team had the pleasure of managing both of these campaigns. While there were many people instrumental to making these efforts a success, the strong leadership of Governor Brewer in her race and Mayor Scott Smith in the Cubs election were what made these victories possible.
Governor Jan Brewer pledged from the first day in office to do what was right for Arizona, even when
doing the right thing meant “doing the hard thing.” Her leadership and determination to pass a budget in record time and refer a tax to the ballot marked the day that she took the reins of the race and never looked back. Pundits may point to SB 1070 as the key to her success, but if you look deeper, you can see that it truly was her toughness, determination, and decisive nature that made her the real frontrunner.
Mayor Scott Smith faced a similar test of his mettle with the struggle to keep the Cubs in Mesa. After a
league wide effort to improve the Cactus League fell apart, Mayor Smith and his council decided to go it alone. In a cycle of budget shortfalls and a wave of opposition to government spending, Mayor Smith debated the benefits of Proposition 420 anytime and any place – taking the time to set the record straight in every venue imaginable. We will look back and remember that it was Mayor Smith’s leadership that kept the Cubs in Mesa for at least another 30 years.
Time and again, we are blessed to work with determined leaders who understand what needs to be done to win. They are the key to HighGround’s track record of success.