"Arizona is sui generis"

Jon Talton reflects on Ken Silverstein’s Harpers story examining Arizona’s curious polity:

Silverstein writes, “Arizonans are generally moderate…And yet Arizona politics are disproportionately controlled by ultraconservatives.” This is one of many ways where Arizona is close to being sui generis. “Arizonans” now comprise a large number of retirees and other outsiders with little interest in the state except as a sunny place to use up for their personal convenience. Apathy is widespread, as are those working multiple low-wage jobs just to survive. In most cases, those who don’t vote “no,” simply don’t vote — and that extends to Hispanic citizens. Those who vote now are mostly not moderate. […] I can think of few states with such a self-destructive electorate — Kansas doesn’t even come close.

Talton concludes:

Similarly, the influence of the Mormon church, which Silverstein mentions, is very different in Arizona than in even Utah. The anti-immigrant Jim Crow SB 1070 runs counter to LDS teaching and I have had several Mormon acquaintances privately denounce it. But privately. The East Valley LDS operates by its own cruel rules, very different from Utah and not appetizing to America upon even passing examination.

PHXated’s take on the Harpers story is here.