About The Governor
ABOUT GOVERNOR JAN BREWER
Experienced and Tenacious Leadership to Solve Arizona's Challenges
Governor Jan Brewer is uniquely qualified to lead Arizona through very challenging times by the depth of her public service and tenaciousness. Janice K. Brewer took the oath of office as Governor of Arizona on January 21, 2009 upon the resignation of then-Governor Janet Napolitano. She promptly inherited one of the worst fiscal crises in country for any state. She has taken decisive action to turn the situation around. Jan has a keen grasp of state budget issues from her past service in the Legislature, including in Senate leadership. And this is not the first time Jan has been called on to turn around a fiscal mess. As a newly elected member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 1997, Jan encountered a local government bogged down so deep in debt that it was using short-term borrowing just to meet cash flow. At the end of Brewer’s tenure in 2002, Maricopa County's financial turnaround was so good that Governing Magazine proclaimed it as “one of the two best managed large counties in the nation.” If so honored to have a second term as governor, Jan's goal is have the same said about the State of Arizona.
Character Forged Early in Life
Jan Brewer's journey into public service has been without fear, because her Minnesota-Norwegian parents, Wilford and Edna Drinkwine, established a firm foundation for her – one cemented in faith in God and love for our country. Believing his country needed him during World War II, Jan's father moved his wife and young son halfway across America for a job in the Nevada desert, working at the country’s largest Navy munitions depot. Jan was born a couple of years later in 1944. Years of breathing poisonous fumes of harsh chemicals from the munitions help precipitate her father's death when Jan was 11. Facing the daunting and terrifying challenge of being a widow with two children and not having work outside the home before, Edna Drinkwine taught her daughter by example how to face life's challenges – you meet them head-on. Jan's mother took all her savings and opened a franchise dress shop in California and worked 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Jan worked right beside her, every day after school and on weekends. From her mother, she learned to make hard choices and the value of action – that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. She taught Jan that you’re measured by how you meet challenges. – you never quit.
Unbridled Optimism about Arizona's Future
Jan Brewer moved to Arizona 40 years ago after marrying Glendale native, John Brewer. Jan and John raised their three sons in Glendale and live in the same house since the mid-1970's. Jan has seen Arizona grow and prosper in that time. She knows that Arizona goes through its economic peaks and valleys but always comes out stronger on the other end. To lessen these economic swings, Jan believes that Arizona needs to take decisive action to diversify its economy with higher paying jobs and reforming our education system. She also knows that Arizona's future depends on a secure border and functioning immigration system. She has laid a firm foundation for Arizona's comeback taking office as Governor in January 2009. Commenting in her 2010 State of State address, she said these difficult times "are filled with hope and opportunity. We are a young state. Arizona's best days are still to come if we make the right decisions. They are what the future requires."
More Interesting Facts About Jan
