End of an era: Gov. Brewer leaves office

Outgoing Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer knows the photo will follow her for the rest of her life.

Standing on the tarmac at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, the Republican Brewer heatedly points a now-notorious finger in President Barack Obama's face. The Jan. 25, 2012, Associated Press photo immediately flashed around the globe, cementing her almost folk-hero national image among conservatives as a leader in the fight against illegal immigration, one who is willing to stand up to the Democratic White House and the federal government.

"It tells a story," Brewer told The Arizona Republic in an interview this month about her legacy. "My son said the next day — after all the brouhaha and everything — 'I never thought I'd ever have anything in common with President Obama, but now both of us have been at the other end of that finger.' "

Part of the story it tells is also of her reputation for divisiveness and partisanship. Following the incident, more than 12,000 letters and e-mails poured in from across the country, with many Americans taking her to task for what they saw as boorish behavior toward the president.

But Brewer's confrontations sometimes involved fellow members of the Arizona Republican Party, whom she clashed with over a temporary state sales-tax increase and Medicaid expansion. She came out on top in those fights — easily shrugging off GOP primary challenges in her 2010 bid for a full term — showing she was able to deliver practical results as she steered the state through dark economic times.

As time marches on, though, even those political triumphs might not be able to eclipse memories of her high-profile activism against illegal immigration.

Brewer's decision to sign Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's controversial 2010 immigration-enforcement law, thrust her into the spotlight of the national debate over immigration reform and border security and contributed to the sustained standing ovation she received at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa. The law, much of which has been struck down, began a protracted legal battle with the Obama administration.

But to many in the Latino community, Brewer is mentioned in the same breath as Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other anti-illegal-immigration hardliners as a civil-rights villain, and "Arizona is seen as this decade's Alabama," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a liberal-leaning, Washington, D.C.-based organization that champions comprehensive immigration reform.

"It's hard to imagine that history is going to be kind to her," Sharry said. "She's known for invoking beheadings in the state and signing 1070 and costing Arizona a huge amount in tourism and convention dollars as well as in reputation. Then she finished with a final flourish of meanness in trying to deny 'dreamers' driver's licenses."

Brewer remains steadfast in her positions, saying the public is on her side in defending "the rule of law." She has signaled that, despite legal setbacks, she will continue fighting the issuance of driver's licenses to young immigrants participating in Obama's deferred-deportation program until the minute she leaves office.

"They saw me as a fighter and a truth-teller," Brewer said of her supporters. "I think the people of America appreciate me for standing up and standing my ground. I never expected it to be such a big issue, but I'm not backing down, and I don't think the citizens of America are going to back down.

"I think that probably will be part of my legacy, but I think that there's a lot of other things in my legacy."

In Arizona, that legacy is not as clear-cut as her national role in the immigration debate.

A former Arizona secretary of state, Brewer ascended the Ninth Floor in January 2009, after Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano resigned to join Obama's Cabinet as the secretary of Homeland Security.

Immediately faced with a historic budget deficit, Brewer was forced to manage the state through its most difficult economic conditions since the Great Depression.

She ushered through an overhaul of the state's child-welfare system, propelled by the discovery of nearly 6,600 reports of child abuse and neglect that never got a state-mandated investigation.

With Brewer's prodding, the state's long-running lawsuit over funding for behavioral health was finally resolved. The Arnold v. Sarn litigation had dragged on for three decades. Brewer brought it to an end in the final year of her term, calling it a landmark development.

Brewer also bucked her fellow Republicans when she felt it was necessary.

She battled conservatives who opposed an emergency 2010 sales-tax measure that she proposed. Voters sided with her.

She found herself on the same side as Obama with her 2013 proposal to expand Medicaid, a move that again got her cross-wise with the Arizona GOP's right wing.

On Feb. 26, Brewer vetoed Senate Bill 1062, the Republican-controlled Legislature's right-to-refuse-service bill amid threats of an economic backlash and critics' claims that it legalized discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"She has a pretty good string of legislative accomplishments," said U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who particularly applauded her veto of SB1062. "She served the people well, and I think she'll go down in history as a very excellent governor."

But Bruce Merrill, a veteran political scientist and pollster who has followed Brewer's long career in state politics, called her something of "an enigma" and a throwback to a less-polished era of Arizona politics who never appeared particularly concerned with playing political games or her own popularity. The result is a record that is "all over the board" that could prevent her from being remembered as one of the stronger Arizona governors, he said.

"I think she did what she believed was best for the state, but unfortunately, more than anything, she's going to be identified with Joe Arpaio and ... illegal immigration, along with the finger-pointing," said Merrill, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy. "She's probably more popular outside of Arizona than she is in Arizona. There for a long time she was in great demand all over the country as someone who could stand up to Barack Obama when not many people were willing to do that."

When Brewer became governor in 2009, she walked into a fiscal disaster: a $1.6 billion budget shortfall. Tough budget cuts, financial gimmicks — including selling off state buildings — and a temporary sales tax brought in about $1 billion a year to help put Arizona back into the black.

While she is credited for getting the state through a dire situation, she's increasingly criticized for leaving the state in another fiscal mess as she exits the office. Incoming Republican Gov. Doug Ducey will have to address a $1 billion budget shortfall next fiscal year, as the state's sluggish economy continues to underperform.

"It's been six years of tough managing," Brewer told The Republic. "Given what I inherited, I find us as being very successful. And I thank my staff for that. I certainly thank the people of Arizona for their support and encouragement."

Brewer implemented measures she promised would revive the state's economy in the long run, including a $1 billion corporate-tax-cut package that is still being phased in. During 2013 and early 2014, she toured Arizona highlighting new businesses and declaring the state was in the midst of a "great Arizona comeback." Some suggested the comeback was more clever slogan than reality, and the numbers eventually proved them right.

Ducey and his team "are going to have to make some kind of adjustment," Brewer acknowledged, stopping short of calling for another tax increase.

She also brushed back criticism that she was wrong to keep the 2010 sales-tax increase temporary. Some have noted it would have collected enough revenue to bridge the looming state deficit.

"I do believe that it did pass because I had that (fiscally conservative) reputation ... and I made the people the promise that it would be temporary," Brewer said. "And when it became completed, it was over. I think the people found that refreshing, that they were told one thing and that it was truthful. And I'm proud of that."

State House Minority Leader Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, who served in the Legislature throughout Brewer's tenure, is among the biggest critics of her fiscal policies.

"I think her legacy was one of missed opportunities," he said. "We got Medicaid expansion, but in terms of economic policies and putting us in a position to be competitive, she left us worse off."

Campbell said corporations want political stability, quality education and an investment in infrastructure. Under Brewer, Campbell said, Arizona has gotten none of that and so is losing out on new jobs and new revenue.

"Our unemployment rate is higher than it is in the rest of the country and our schools have been gutted," Campbell said. "We haven't invested in anything over the past six years to fix it."

While Democrats and a handful of Republicans cheered Brewer's plan to expand Medicaid, winning the needed votes became a months-long battle in 2013, an echo of the fight Brewer had in 2009-10 over the temporary sales tax.

"I was restoring what the voters wanted, and I was bringing our federal dollars back from Washington, D.C.," Brewer said of her reasons for expanding the health-care program. "It just made sense."

Brewer rallied hospital executives to sell lawmakers on the benefits to the health-care industry in their districts. To nervous Republican lawmakers who supported a policy closely associated with an unpopular Democratic president, she pledged she would not abandon them when they stood for re-election in 2014. She delivered on that promise: Her independent-expenditure committee spent more than $400,000 to help the "Medicaid Republicans." All of them won, some handily.

Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, an early supporter of expansion, called it a "milestone" not only for Brewer, but also for the thousands of Arizonans who are benefiting from access to health care.

"Rural Arizona hospitals in my district were going to start closing down," Pierce said. "And if we hadn't done that, think how much worse off we would have been with our (state) budget."

The expanded program actually adds money to state coffers, which greatly increases the odds it will live beyond the Brewer administration.

However, it is not cemented into state policy. The Arizona Supreme Court is considering a petition from Brewer to reject a lawsuit from three dozen Republican lawmakers challenging the way Medicaid expansion was created in the Legislature.

Given her reputation for clashing with lawmakers — and usually outmaneuvering them — it's not surprising Brewer leaves plenty of bruised egos at the state Capitol.

"I had to govern," Brewer said. "I had to decide what it was going to take to keep the state afloat, and you don't take that lightly."

Brewer's contrarian stance on some issues rankled Republicans, who felt they were betrayed by one of their own.

Six weeks into her tenure, she announced the need for a temporary tax increase to a joint session of the Legislature. Then-Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, walked out of the room — signaling the start of rocky relations with the "tea party" wing of the GOP.

When the Republican-controlled Legislature waited until the clock had run out on the fiscal year to send her a budget, Brewer promptly vetoed almost all of it and called lawmakers — some on the road to summer vacations — back into a special session.

When, in 2013, she announced she would pursue expansion of the state's Medicaid program, the Maricopa County Republican chairman, A.J. LaFaro, labeled her "Judas."

State Senate Republican leaders, when asked recently about Brewer's legacy, sat silently for a long, awkward minute. Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, bruised from fights with Brewer over budgets he has consistently thought were too large, shook his head and stared at the table.

"Well, at least she had immigration," state Sen. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, finally said.

Ultimately, talk of Brewer's legacy always turns to SB 1070 and her unyielding stance against illegal immigration.

"I think Gov. Brewer's most significant contributions were to the anti-illegal immigration movement in Arizona," said state Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who along with then-Sen. Russell Pearce sponsored SB 1070. "She assumed a leadership position and set an example on immigration. As a result, it became harder for the federal government to make it easier on illegal immigrants."

In April 2010, Brewer signed into law what at the time was the toughest immigration law in the nation. The measure placed Arizona at the center of the immigration debate, helped Brewer easily win another term as governor and launched her into the national political limelight.

Brewer had a penchant for attracting national attention in other respects, such as the airport photo with Obama or her mistaken 2010 claim that Mexican drug-cartel beheadings were a problem in the Arizona desert. She later clarified that she meant violence in Mexico that she didn't want spilling into Arizona.

"Most governors promote their state; she was making up tales of beheadings," Sharry of America's Voice said.

After facing multiple legal challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in June 2012 that one key part of SB 1070 was constitutional. Three other portions were tossed in a 5-3 opinion.

Brewer has never wavered in her support of SB 1070, even in the midst of the firestorm her signature ignited. She notes the legislation remains popular in polls.

"The rule of law — what's so wrong about the rule of law?" Brewer asked. "And, by the way, 1070 only mirrored federal law, and we've always been partners in enforcing it."

Most Americans support her on the issue, she argued, because they are tired of what she described as immigration-related crimes, such as extortion and sex trafficking.

"They understand that the we need a secure border, and they appreciate that somebody is willing to stand up and talk about state rights," she said. "I've often (stated) it as a nation without borders is like a house without walls. It collapses."

Brewer again took on the Obama administration, issuing an executive order denying driver's licenses for individuals protected by the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The federal courts ordered it temporarily lifted, but Brewer continues to fight for the policy and vows to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

When she leaves office in January, Brewer will conclude a 32-year career in Arizona public life that included stints in the Legislature, on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and as secretary of state. She did not rule out future possibilities and suggested she would consider opportunities such as request to join the national GOP ticket as a vice presidential candidate if any ever come. She also may write a second book.

"I've enjoyed being governor," Brewer said. "I wish it was in better times."

Republic reporters Alia Rau and Mary Jo Pitzl contributed to this article.