Len Munsil

Len Munsil is an Arizona Republican Party activist and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Arizona in the Arizona gubernatorial election, 2006. He was defeated by incumbent Janet Napolitano in the general election on November 7, 2006.

Personal background

Conservative Len Munsil is most well known as the founder of the Center for Arizona Policy [http://www.azpolicy.org] , a public policy organization emphasising socially conservative issues.

Munsil attended Arizona State University and achieved early notoriety when he became the editor of the university's newspaper, The State Press. Under Munsil the editorial direction of the paper became aggressively conservative--particularly toward faculty members viewed by Munsil and his student journalist colleagues as too leftist [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1993-11-10/news/the-righteous-stuff/] .

Munsil has been a licensed attorney for 17 years. He is admitted to practice in Arizona and federal courts, including eight U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal and the United States Supreme Court. He has authored numerous amicus curiae briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court. Munsil served in a judicial clerkship for Judge Daniel A. Manion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and was appointed by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington to the Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Council.

In 2007, Munsil founded an Arizona political action committee [http://www.pro-pac.org/ PRO-PAC] , which stands for "Principled Reaganesque Outcomes." The mission of PRO-PAC is three-fold: 1) Educate officials, potential candidates and citizens about the conservative message of President Reagan, 2) Make independent expenditures to help elect Reagan Republicans in 2008 and beyond, and 3) Expand the base of the Republican Party in Arizona and encourage many additional thoughtful conservatives to get involved at the grassroots level.

In 2008, Munsil became an adjunct professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Southwestern_College_%28Arizona%29 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Munsil and his wife, Tracy, have eight children.

2006 Gubernatorial Election

During the campaign, Munsil was endorsed by four Republican Congressmen from Arizona: Jeff Flake,
Trent Franks, Rick Renzi, and John Shadegg. [http://www.lenmunsil.com/congressional_letter.pdf] He was also endorsed by Senator John McCain and more than 30 state legislators. [http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/09/04/daily22.html?jst=b_ln_hl] .

Early polls suggested that Munsil had significant ground to make up in the primary, indicating in July that he had a mere 12% of Republican voters behind him. [http://www.brcpolls.com/06/RMP-2006-III-02.pdf] Don Goldwater, nephew of the late U.S. Senator and U.S. presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, came in second in a four-way Republican Primary Election on Sept. 12th. Munsil received 50.6% of the vote, while Goldwater garnered only 39.7%. Mike Harris earned 6.1% and Gary Tupper mustered 3.7%.

In the general election, just 8 weeks later, Munsil himself was defeated by incumbent Governor Janet Napolitano by a 62.6% to 35.4% margin.

History of opinion polls for election

"Zogby/Wall Street Journal - September 19-September 25, 2006, likely voters, +/-4%" [http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash05a.html?project=elections06-ft&h=495&w=778&hasAd=1&mod=blogs]

"Survey USA - September 16-18, 2006, likely voters, +/-4.6%" [http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReportEmail.aspx?g=7bc891cf-4d78-4a76-981e-f7769f103f36]

External links

* [http://www.pro-pac.org/ Principled Reaganesque Outcomes Political Action Committee]
* [http://www.lenmunsil.com/ Len Munsil's Daily Blog]
* [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1993-11-10/news/the-righteous-stuff/ The Righteous Stuff]