Confederate Arizona In
Tucson between April 2 and April 5, 1860, a convention of settlers from the southern half of
New Mexico Territory drafted a provisional constitution for "Arizona Territory", three years before the United States would create such a territory. This proposed territory consisted of the part of New Mexico Territory south of 33° 40' north. On April 2, they elected a governor,
Lewis S. Owings. The provisional territory was to exist until such time as an official territory was created, but that proposal was rejected by
Congress at the time. On March 16, 1861, soon before the
American Civil War broke out, a convention in
Mesilla voted that the provisional territory should secede from the
Union and join the
Confederacy. Lewis S. Owings remained on as the provisional governor of the territory. The Confederacy took ownership of the territory on August 1, 1861, when forces led by Lieutenant Colonel
John R. Baylor won decisive control of the territory, and Baylor proclaimed himself governor.
Arizona Territory was formally organized in the Confederacy on January 18, 1862. On March 20, 1862, Baylor issued an order to kill all the adult
Apache and take their children into slavery. no new governor was appointed.
Territory of Arizona Arizona Territory was formed on February 24, 1863, from
New Mexico Territory, remaining a territory for 49 years.
State of Arizona The state of Arizona was
admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, the last of the
contiguous states to be admitted. The
state constitution of 1912 called for the election of a governor every two years. The term was increased to four years by a 1968 amendment. The constitution originally included no term limit, but an amendment passed in 1992 allows governors to succeed themselves only once; If the governor is out of the state or impeached, the next elected officer in the line of succession becomes acting governor until the governor returns or is cleared. Nominees will be chosen by each party's gubernatorial nominee, with the governor and lieutenant governor then chosen by general election voters on a joint ticket. ==Timeline==