Old Law Made Arizona Attorney General Acting Governor For 28 Hours

By Katherine Fritcke
Published: Thursday, July 9, 2015 - 9:20am
(Photo via mark4az.com)
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich

Last week, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey was on vacation. Soon after, Secretary of State Michelle Reagan left the state to attend a conference.

According to the Arizona Constitution, that left Attorney General Mark Brnovich as the acting governor. He proudly announced this brief transition on Twitter.

This rule was useful earlier this year when state lawmakers voted to cancel a requirement that high-school students pass the AIMS tests to graduate. Again, Ducey was out of the state, requiring Reagan to sign the bill.

While this rule is useful, Brnovich’s spokesman Ryan Anderson said the law is also outdated.


“A lot has changed in the last 100 years. We have airplanes. We have computers. We have cellphones. We have Twitter now, which, as we saw, got us into this whole mess in the first place," said Anderson. "But the reality is Gov. Ducey is fully capable of managing this state while across state lines.”

Ducey returned to Arizona yesterday. But, not before Brnovich declared July 8 “Grateful Dead Day.”