Paul Fannin

Paul J. Fannin
Former U.S. Senator from Arizona From: January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1977
Predecessor	Barry Goldwater
Successor	Dennis DeConcini
U.S. Senator from Arizona From: January 5, 1959 – January 4, 1965
Predecessor	Ernest McFarland
Successor	Samuel Pearson Goddard, Jr.
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Lorenza Brown Elma Addington

Paul Jones Fannin (January 29, 1907 &ndasgl January 13, 2002) was a movement conservative Republican from Arizona who served as the state's United States Senator for two terms. He succeeded his friend, Barry Goldwater, after the latter retired from the Class I seat in 1964 to run unsuccessfully for U.S. President against Lyndon B. Johnson. From 1959 to 1965, he was the governor of Arizona.

He was born in Ashland, Kentucky.

Governor of Arizona[edit]

Fannin ran in the 1958 Arizona gubernatorial election, in which he defeated the Democrat Robert Morrison by ten percentage points,^[1] mostly attributed to sweeping over Maricopa County by a heavy margin. He won re-election to two-year terms in 1960^[2] and 1962.^[3] He was allied with Phoenix Mayor Jack Williams, who served as governor from 1967 to 1975.

During his six years in the position, Fannin led efforts to promote trade and tourism across the southern border. He supported real estate equalization and an increased distribution of water throughout the state. A boosted sales tax under his administration led to a medical school and several colleges built as well.

U.S. Senate[edit]

Fannin ran for U.S. Senate in 1964 to succeed Barry Goldwater, his longtime friend. Fannin was one of three of the then sixteen Republican governors who endorsed Goldwater for the presidential nomination. The other two were Tim Babcock of Montana and Henry Bellmon of Oklahoma.^[4][5] Fannin outperformed Goldwater by several percentage points in the state,^[6][5] with both relying on their supporter base in Maricopa County. Fannin won re-election in 1970 by a considerably larger margin over Democrat opponent Sam Grossman.^[7]

Fannin supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965^[8] though voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1968.^[9]

Along with fellow Republican senators Goldwater (who returned to the Senate from the Class III seat in the 1968 elections) and Norris Cotton of New Hampshire in 1972, Fannin voted against the liberal Equal Rights Amendment,^[10] which was backed by the D.C. establishment though ultimately defeated by a grassroots coalition led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. GovTrack rated Fannin in 1976 as the most conservative member of the Senate.^[11]

Fannin decided against running for re-election in 1976 because of his wife's deteriorating health.^[12]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at National Governors Association
• Profile at Find a Grave
• Biography via Historical League