Michele Reagan (born October 13, 1969) is an American
Republican politician who served as the 20th
Arizona Secretary of State
The secretary of state of Arizona is an elected position in the U.S. state of Arizona. Since Arizona does not have a Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor, the secretary stands first in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in ...
, from 2015 to 2019. She is currently a
Justice of the Peace for the
Maricopa County
Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
McDowell Mountain Precinct.
Early life
A native of
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...
, Reagan first moved to Arizona in 1991 with her family and opened a
Fastsigns.
Reagan graduated from
Illinois State University
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public research university in Normal, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University and is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teachin ...
and was named by the Aspen Institute to its Rodel Fellowship.
Career
Reagan was first elected to the Arizona State House in 2002. She was first elected to the Arizona State Senate in 2010. Michele Reagan was elected to serve as Arizona's 20th Secretary of State in 2014.
Reagan voted in support of a bill that was referred as the "birther bill" in 2011, which required candidates to prove their citizenship to the secretary of state of Arizona, and bill 1062, a controversial religious freedom bill that was vetoed by Governor
Jan Brewer
Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...
.
In March 2017, State Senator
Steve Montenegro announced a primary challenge to Michele Reagan citing what he described as her "long and liberal voting record." Later, however, Montenegro announced he would run for Congress instead of Secretary of State. Reagan ended up facing Steve Gaynor, a businessman, in the 2018 Republican primary. She lost the primary to Gaynor, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat
Katie Hobbs.
In September 2019, Reagan was appointed by the
Maricopa County
Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...
Board of Supervisors as a Maricopa County Justice of the Peace for the McDowell Mountain Precinct.
She succeeded her father, Michael Reagan who retired in July 2019.
Political positions
Michele Reagan has been considered a
moderate Republican. Reagan has been given an 80% conservative rating by the
American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...
. The Arizona chapter of
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...
gave Reagan a 58% grade on conservative issues. She is
fiscally conservative and voted against the Medicaid expansion, an online sales tax, and she voted to cut business taxes. On social issues, she has a mixed record. She supported same-sex marriage after it was legalized in Arizona.
Fiscal positions
She was given a score of 47% by the fiscally conservative
Goldwater Institute in 2010. In 2010, Reagan was rated 38% by
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...
and was rated 63% in 2014. The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity gave her a grade of 58% in 2006 and 36% in 2008 based on "Positions on Conservative Issues." She was endorsed by the
Arizona Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, the Goldwater Institute gave her a 71% on tax and budget issues.
Reagan voted for the Medicaid expansion in Arizona in order to move the vote forward, but she voted against the Medicaid expansion during its last vote. She voted to reduce taxes for businesses and voted against imposing a sales tax on online sales. In 2012, she voted to expand requirements for unemployment benefits; in 2013, she voted to expand Medicaid eligibility. In 2014, she voted to regulate ride-sharing companies. She also voted to establish working requirements in order to receive welfare benefits.
Social positions
Michele Reagan has been given mixed ratings from organizations on both sides of the abortion rights issue. In 2012, Reagan was given a rating of 50% by
NARAL
Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose rest ...
/Arizona Right to Choose. In 2011 and 2009 respectively, she was given a 60% and 67% rating by
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization . Her highest pro-choice score was 100% given by Planned Parenthood.
The
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
organization, Arizona Right to Life, gave her a 66% rating.
In 2011, Reagan voted against HB2416 which defined the abortion pill as a surgery, and voted against a bill prohibiting physicians assistants from providing an abortion pill; conversely, Reagan voted in favor of a bill making Planned Parenthood ineligible for The Working Poor Tax Credit. Reagan voted against banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. She also broke with her party and voted with Democrats against allowing employers to refuse to provide birth control coverage to employees.
On
LGBT
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
issues, she has a mixed record. She voted in favor of defining marriage as between one man and one woman, but she also voted against a bill that would have prevented same-sex couples from adopting. She was one of four Republicans in the state house to vote in favor of giving
domestic partner
A domestic partnership is an intimate relationship between people, usually couples, who cohabitation, live together and share a common domestic life but who are not marriage, married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partner ...
rights to unmarried gay and straight couples. After
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
was legalized in Arizona, Reagan said that "
tshould be a proud day for Arizona as we celebrate equality." She was given a 100% rating by
Equality Arizona which supports same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights. Representing the more conservative perspective, the
Center for Arizona Policy
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
, which opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions, gave Reagan a rating of 92% in 2012, her highest score, and a rating of 54% in 2008, her lowest score.
Reflecting her positions on gun issues, she was rated "A" by the
NRA Political Victory Fund which advocates in favor of gun ownership rights. She voted to allow guns in certain public buildings, including on college campuses, and to legalize the display of a firearm for self-defense.
On education, Reagan voted against banning
Common Core Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, was an American, multi-state educational initiative begun in 2010 with the goal of increasing consistency across state standards, or what K–12 students throughout th ...
. She also voted to end
affirmative action
Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...
in education.
She received a score of 38% in 2008 from Border Action Network, an organization supporting pro-immigration policies.
Michele Reagan had also voted for
SB1070, the controversial immigration law passed in Arizona meant to oppose illegal immigration and tighten enforcement. She joined Democrats to oppose a bill that would have defined and restricted Arizona citizenship. She voted to make English the official language of the state, and she voted against issuing separate birth certificates to non-citizens as well as against requiring proof of citizenship for some benefits. In 2018, Arizona faced a lawsuit over its requirement that voters show proof of citizenship to register to vote; as part of a settlement, Reagan agreed to a deal that requires proof of citizenship to vote in state elections but does not require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections in accordance with federal law.
Elections
In 2016, Reagan proposed a bill in the Arizona Legislature ostensibly simplify elections, which would allow
dark money
In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public.
In the United States, ...
groups to spend twice as much money on ballot measures as legally allowed, and allow nonprofit groups to spend more on elections. After the Trump administration requested that states provide voter information for a commission on voter fraud, Michele Reagan "said
n July 3she is rejecting the Trump administration's request for extensive voter information, saying it isn't in the state's best interest."
In 2016 Reagan came under scrutiny for failing to mail out as many as a half million publicity pamphlets as required by Arizona law in connection with an election. The investigation concluded that the error "demonstrates poor or incompetent execution of the task, not a knowing omission of their duty." and assessed no criminal penalties.
Personal life
Michele Reagan and her husband, David, currently reside in Scottsdale. She is a member of Valley Presbyterian Church in
Paradise Valley, formerly a congregation of the
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...
and currently a congregation of
ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians .
She has no relation to the family of
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.
Electoral history
See also
*
List of female secretaries of state in the United States
References
External links
Reagan's campaign bioArizona State Legislature bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, Michele
1969 births
21st-century members of the Arizona State Legislature
21st-century American women politicians
Republican Party Arizona state senators
Illinois State University alumni
Living people
Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives
People from Rockford, Illinois
Secretaries of state of Arizona
Women state legislators in Arizona
Women state constitutional officers of Arizona