Historic Quote: “They are wrong. My beliefs are rooted in the values of the 17th century, and I’m proud of it.” New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson on those who said his views were rooted in the 19th century.”
Once upon a time, Arizona and New Hampshire gave America two of the most erratic, fringe like Governors they had seem in some time. By the end of their tenures, neither of which ended voluntarily (one was via impeachment), voters in their respective states were well aware that both were well outside the mainstream.
“The Granite State’s” Meldrim Thomson came first. A southerner by transplant (Thompson was born in Pennsylvania but reared in Georgia), he had run on George Wallace’s American Independence line in 1970 , which, given his philosophy, seemed appropriate. Thompson had lost attempts to win the Republican nomination that year, as well as in 1968.
Thompson’s 1972 victory was largely due to his plans attacking an income tax. His slogan was “ax the tax.” and that successfully enabled him to beat incumbent Democratic Governor Walter Petersen. He promised to devote two full, hard working years to removing “filth from our campuses.” But he puzzled many by trying to get access to income tax reports of some of his opponents, a quest that he continued even whom the courts ordered him to stop.
Preserving the “Live Free Or Die” motto of the state was his goal, and Thomson would take any means to do so, including petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court when one man tried to cover it. He suggested the state National Guard arm itself with nuclear weapons. He started a “lobster war” with Maine when it came to disputes over fishing boundaries (the supreme court stepped in to this one). He personally arrested speeders, wore camauflouge as he ordered the arrest of student protesters, and said the abbreviated “X” in Christmas was paganism.
Thomson was obviously vulnerable for re-election in 1974 and faced a State Senator named Richard Leonard. Leonard took “the pledge,” but was not a super-imposing campaigner. And Thomson had the support of William Loeb, editor of the dominant Manchester Union Leader. Thompson squeaked by with 5,000 votes, 51-49%.
Thomson with supported, Manchester Union publisher William Loeb
In ’76, he more or less got lucky. Harry Spanous, a State Senator who had lost the primary two years before, was successful this time. He hammered away at Thomson for again trying to circumvent the will of the people, this time creation of a pulp mill in Walpole. But he had refused to take the pledge. Therefore, voters refused to take him. Thomson won by a landslide 58-42%.
For much of the year, Thomson was more involved with national politics. He was virulently anti-Ford. In fact, Thomson was so desperate to find an alternative to the president that he threatened to challenge him in New Hampshire’s primary if Reagan didn’t. Reagan relented, but Thomson must have been unhappy at seeing him lose by 1,500 votes. he was angry at Reagan when he picked Richard moderate Dick Schweikert as his running mate but didn’t abandon him.
As Thomson geared up to seek a fourth term in 1978, he came under fire from a number of black clergy for saying South Africa has “more political and economic freedom than many of the new nations in Africa.” He called, Sowetto, “just wonderful,” and said the country has free elections (only whites could take part at that time). “He called distressed relations that have long existed between our two nations inane, dangerous, and meddlesome policies of the Carter administration.” Surprised. One shouldn’t be. He called Martin Luther King Jr “a man of immoral character whose frequent association with leading agents of communism is well-established.”
Hugh Gallen, who had failed to capture the Democratic nomination in the two previous cycles, prevailed this time. He was anti-tax as well, which neutralized the issue. Thomson would heavily outspend Gallen. But Thomson had two things against him. One was his veto of the bill nixing the Construction Work in Progress Fee for the nuclear power point at Seabrook, which many had opposed to begin with. The other was the Independent candidacy of ex-Governor Wesley Powell, a Republican and one who shared similar views as Thomson. There was and continued to be genuine disagreement as to whom Powell hurt more, but in any case. he mustered only 5% of the vote. As an arch-conservative Republican was beating Democratic Senator Tom McIntyre, Thomson was ousted by Democrat Gallen 50-46%, or 11,000 votes out of 255,000 cast.
With his record, Thomson would seem an unlikely hero of those on the pragmatic, even moderate side of the spectrum. But he did appoint David Souter to a seat on the New Hampshire Superior Court.
After leaving office, Thomson was no less devoted to conservative causes. He died at 89 in 2001.
Evan Mecham (Jeff Robbins, AP)
As hard as it is to say, Evan Mecham was even more fringe. Like Thompson, he had sought office on a number of occasions, many times being dispatched by his own party in primaries. In 1962, he took the generally worthless nomination to face venerable Senator Carl Hayden, and drew 45%, a showing mostly attributed to questions about Hayden’s age. He had run for Arizona Governor four times prior to 1986, losing all but the 1978 primary. But he did captured 46% that year against Governor Bruce Babbit, then seeking his first full term.
His victory in 1986 was attributed to a wide split within the Democratic Party. Carolyn Warner had take the Democratic nomination and seemed poised to win, until Bill Schulz jumped in the race as an independent. Schulz had nearly unseated the venerable Barry Goldwater in 1980. His presence allowed Mecham to take 43%, about as high as he could get, but enough to make him Governor in a three party field.
Before even taking office, Mecham made waves. He vowed to overturn the Executive Order making Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a holiday, because he didn’t feel a Governor had that authority. He tried to validate the term “pickaninny,” said Jews should accept the fact that America is a “Christian nation” (Mecham was Jewish), and noted the eyes of Japanese businessmen “got round” when they heard of Arizona’s many golf courses.
Mecham had also been indicted on charges that he had diverted $80,000 in campaign spending to go toward his auto dealership, which had made him a millionaire. Barry Goldwater called on him to resign, as did most Republicans in the GOP dominated legislator. Eventually, impeachment proceedings had begun, which Mecham called “pure and simple raw political power exercised by those groups who wanted to remain in control” and attributed to “homosexuals and a few dissident Democrats”). But in May of 1988, he was removed from office. The charges of campaign violations were later dismissed.
Meanwhile, to prevent future Mecham’s, the legislature pushed through a law mandating a runoff in the event that a candidate in the general election fails to hit 50%.
In 1990, Mecham vowed to cheering supporters that he would seek to reclaim the office. Some democrats, believing that he would be easy to beat in the general, changed their party registration to make sure he won the GOP primary. He didn’t come close and Republican Fife Symington beat Democrat Terry Goddard in a February 1991 runoff.