[3] Periodic runs for political office earned him a reputation as a perennial candidate along with the nickname of "The Harold Stassen of Arizona" before he was elected governor, under the Republican banner.

During this time, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and made his final runs for the Arizona governorship and also for the U.S. Senate, in which he unsuccessfully challenged John McCain as an independent.

Evan Mecham was born to parents who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mountain Home, Utah, and raised on his family's farm.

[9] Mecham returned to the United States after recovering from injuries sustained in the lead-up to his capture, and received an Air Medal and Purple Heart for his service.

Another staff member, Donna Carlson, reported that Mecham believed he had obtained office by divine right and was thus not overly concerned about the feelings of others.

[16] As a newspaper publisher trying to break into the Phoenix and Tucson markets, Mecham testified before the U.S. Senate Antitrust and Monopoly subcommittee on July 13, 1967.

Senator Carl Hayden that provided partial immunity from the Sherman Antitrust Act, allowing an economically healthy newspaper and one that was failing to form a joint venture combining advertising, printing, and distribution operations while maintaining separate reporting and editorial functions.

In the general election, Mecham received only tepid support from his party because of the value of Hayden's Senate seniority in passing legislation for the proposed Central Arizona Project.

During the campaign, the state Automobile Dealers Association's ethics committee placed Mecham's dealership on probation for being chronically tardy in responding to complaints.

Conventions scheduled to be held in Arizona were canceled, and performer Stevie Wonder and writer Harlan Ellison separately announced that they would boycott the state.

The rock band U2, which performed a concert at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe in early April 1987, joined in with the chorus of condemnation of Mecham, publicly announcing that they had donated money to the impeachment campaign, and having him denounced from the stage by a spokesman to their audience and the attending press, television, and radio outlets.

Examples included his choice to head the Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, who was under investigation for murder;[39] the director of the Department of Revenue, whose company was in arrears by $25,000 on employment compensation payments;[40] the proposed supervisor of prison construction, who had served prison time for armed robbery;[41] and a former Marine, nominated as a state investigator, who had been court-martialled twice.

His proposal to cut the state's sales tax by one percentage point—a key campaign promise—failed, largely because Mecham did not specify which programs would lose funding, thus preventing lawmakers from determining how their constituencies would be affected.

[32][44] His proposed $2.3 billion budget, which cut education funding and froze state employee salaries, was increased by $200 million by the legislature.

[32][42] Mecham lost further support by vetoing bills sponsored by key legislators, such as Senate Majority Leader Bob Usdane.

[48][42] Another incident occurred during a televised event in which a reporter questioned the governor's integrity, prompting Mecham to reply, "Don't you ever ask me for a true statement again.

"[24][32] In the midst of the scandal, Governor Mecham telephoned Arizona Republic political cartoonist Steve Benson, who would later win a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, and told him to stop drawing critical cartoons about him, or his eternal soul would be in jeopardy.

A senior member of Mecham's staff broke his leg after falling through a false ceiling he had been crawling over, looking for covert listening devices.

After this was reported, a political cartoon by Benson appeared in the Arizona Republic depicting the governor leaving his house outfitted for laser tag.

Several corporations looking for locations to build new facilities, including US West and SEMATECH, expressed concern that the governor's statements might indicate problems in the local business climate.

In July 1987, the same month the recall effort officially began, a group of thirteen rank-and-file Republican members of the state legislature met to discuss the governor's image problems.

Eleven members of the group, dubbed the Dirty Dozen by the local press, issued a joint statement critical of many of the governor's efforts.

Mecham also mailed 25,000 letters during September to conservatives nationwide requesting that they move to Arizona and support him in case a recall election were held.

Anger toward the governor grew to the point that on August 15, Mecham's appearance at Sun Devil Stadium before an exhibition NFL game resulted in cries of "Recall!

[63] These claims were added to a grand jury investigation into allegations that Mecham had loaned $80,000 in public funds to help his auto dealership.

[65] The third and final impeachment charge involved an alleged death threat to a government official by Horace Lee Watkins, a Mecham appointee, in November 1987.

[77] The jury found that prosecutors failed to prove that the Mechams knowingly erred on their campaign reports, and acquitted the brothers on all six felony charges on June 10.

In 1995, Mecham became chairman of the Constitutionalist Networking Center, a group attempting to create a grassroots organization called the Constitutionally Unified Republic for Everybody (CURE).

[83] The canceled Martin Luther King Day served as a point of controversy for years following Mecham's removal from gubernatorial office.

In response to the voters' rejection of a King holiday, the Arizona state tourism officials estimated that concert and convention business worth $190 million dollars were canceled and the National Football League moved Super Bowl XXVII, worth an estimated $150 million that year, from the state, to Pasadena, California.