Doug Ducey

Doug Ducey
23rd Governor of Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 5, 2015
Preceded by	Jan Brewer
42nd Treasurer of Arizona
In office January 3, 2011 – January 5, 2015
Governor	Jan Brewer
Preceded by	Dean Martin
Succeeded by	Jeff DeWit
Personal details
Born	Douglas Anthony Roscoe, Jr. (1964-04-09) April 9, 1964 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Angela Ducey
Children	3
Residence(s)	Paradise Valley, Arizona, U.S.
Alma mater	St. John's Jesuit Arizona State University
Website	Government website

Douglas Anthony "Doug" Ducey (born April 9, 1964) is the 23rd and current governor of the U.S. State of Arizona. He is a member of the Republican Party, and was sworn in as governor on January 5, 2015. He also served as the 32nd state treasurer of Arizona. Prior to serving in elected office, Ducey served as the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery before he and his business partner sold the company in 2007. On November 4, 2014, Ducey won the election to become governor of the State of Arizona, the first open seat for governor in 12 years, succeeding Jan Brewer. Ducey is the first male governor of Arizona since Fife Symington (1991–1997).

Born in Toledo, Ohio, Ducey moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1982 where he attended Arizona State University. In addition to his involvement with Cold Stone Creamery, he also worked at a local Anheuser-Busch distributor during his time in college, and Procter & Gamble following his graduation with a degree in finance.

Early life and education

Doug Ducey was born Douglas Anthony Roscoe, Jr. in Toledo, Ohio, where he was raised. He is the son of Madeline Scott and Douglas Roscoe, Sr., a former member of the Toledo Police Department. The younger Roscoe's parents divorced, and in 1975 his mother married businessman Michael Ducey, to whom she remained married until 1981. Michael Ducey adopted Douglas Roscoe, Jr, and his siblings in 1976, and Douglas, Jr. had his last name legally changed to his adopted father's.

Ducey graduated from St. John's Jesuit High School in 1982 and moved to Arizona to attended Arizona State University while working at Hensley & Co., the Anheuser-Busch distributor owned by the family of Cindy McCain. Ducey graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

During his 2014 campaign for governor, press accounts revealed that some of Ducey's relatives in Toledo, the Scotts, Anglicized their name from Scotti and were involved in organized crime in Ohio. These press accounts contained no indication that Ducey has ever been affiliated with these family members or involved with any of their activities.

Business career

After graduating from ASU, he joined Procter & Gamble and began a career in sales and marketing. While there, he was trained in management, preparing him for his role as partner and CEO of Cold Stone Creamery. When he and his business partner sold the company in 2007, Cold Stone had grown from a local scoop shop to more than 1,400 locations in all 50 states and 10 countries. After the company's sale to Kahala, accusations of franchise mismanagement led to Ducey leaving the organization. He then became the lead investor and served as chairman of the board for iMemories from 2008-2012.

Ducey is a trustee for the Arizona State University Foundation. He currently serves on the board for the Banner Health Foundation and the St. John's Jesuit High School Council. He is also a member of the Phoenix Thunderbirds and the United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society. He has served as a past President for both the Arizona chapter of Young Entrepreneurs' Organization and the Greater Phoenix Economic Club. Ducey is a former Regional Board Member for Teach for America, and former advisory board member for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Ducey has also served as a board member for the Arizona State Charter School Board, Thunderbird Charities, Phoenix Zoo and the Arizona chapter of Young Presidents Organization. He is a past member of Greater Phoenix Leadership, CEO Forum and the Enterprise Network, as well as a past co-chair for the Sojourner Center Capital Campaign. He is a former scholarship board member for the Catholic Community Foundation for the Diocese of Phoenix and currently serves on its board of directors.

Ducey's honors include the 2002 Spirit of Enterprise Award on behalf of Cold Stone Creamery by the Center for the Advancement of Small Business at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and induction into the W.P. Carey School of Business Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2006 he was awarded the MUFSO Golden Chain Award – the nation’s highest honor for restaurateurs. Also in 2006 he was named an entrepreneurial fellow for the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. In 2007, Ducey was honored with the AFP Spirit of Philanthropy Award, and in 2009 he was named father of the year by the Father’s Day Council benefiting the American Diabetes Association. Most recently, in 2012 he was given the Tom and Madena Stewart lifetime compassion award by Make-A-Wish Arizona for creating the World’s Largest Ice Cream Social while serving as CEO of Cold Stone Creamery.

Political career

State Treasurer

In 2011, Ducey was elected as state treasurer of Arizona replacing Dean Martin. As Arizona’s chief banker and investment officer, Ducey oversaw more than $12 billion in state assets and served as an investment manager for local governments. The Treasurer also serves as the chairman of Arizona’s State Board of Investment, and State Loan Commission. He serves as the State’s surveyor general and is a member of the State Land Selection Board. Ducey also served as the western region vice president for the National Association of State Treasurers, and was the president of the Western State Treasurers' Association.

Governor

2014 campaign

Main article: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2014

Ducey accepting his party's nomination for governor of Arizona on August 26, 2014.

Ducey speaking at a campaign event for Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump on August 31, 2016.

In July 2013, Ducey officially filed the paperwork necessary to explore the possibility of running for governor. On February 19, 2014, Ducey formally announced his intention to seek the office at a rally in downtown Phoenix.

He received the endorsement of numerous conservative leaders, including Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, as well as Governor Scott Walker and former Senator Jon Kyl. Ducey won the Republican nomination in the August, 2014 primary, and was subsequently endorsed by the outgoing Governor Jan Brewer, along with Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, and the Republicans in Arizona's U.S. House delegation. Ducey was also endorsed by several organizations including Arizona Right to Life, Concerned Women for America and the Small Business Alliance.

The general election took place on November 4, 2014, and Ducey defeated Democrat Fred DuVal and Libertarian Barry Hess.

Tenure

Ducey was sworn in to office on January 5, 2015, replacing outgoing Arizona governor Jan Brewer. Shortly after his term began, Ducey instituted a state employee hiring freeze in an effort to balance the state budget.

On January 15, Ducey signed an education bill requiring high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate, making Arizona the first state to require this.

Ducey issued his first vetoes on March 30, 2015, vetoing HB2150, an amendment to an animal cruelty law which would have excluded livestock animals from protection under that law, and HB2410, which would have prohibited police departments from establishing quotas for traffic citations.

State firings

Under Ducey, the AZ state government was mandated to "shrink government" which lead to a firing by Ducey appointed administrator Tim Jeffries of over 400 state employees at the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), and lead to Ducey removing the leadership's ability to fire employees. The employees were fired for infractions such as questioning leadership for sending purportedly political emails on government systems. Fired employees will be able to petition for reconsideration of their firings with the state HR chief, though they do not have the rights in employment they once did as state employees due to a law signed by previous governor Jan Brewer that converted them to at-will employment in return for bonuses.

State Land Trust

Ducey was a major proponent of AZ Prop 123, which slowly gleaned more dollars from the state land trust to settle a lawsuit which a judge ruled deprived students and teachers of adequate education funding as mandated by AZ voters. During the great recession, the AZ legislature violated the law by funding education in the state below the level required by AZ Prop 300 (Year 2000). Prop 123 settled the lawsuit without raising revenue by increasing distributions from the land trust which was bequethed from the US federal government to the State of Arizona at statehood. Prop 123 also deferred to the legislature, thus overriding Prop 300 in the case the state did not have enough funds for education. Voters essentially undid their Year-2000 mandate. The law was passed with controversy, and many teachers were promised small raises only if the law passed, creating an emergent political issue. With a strong Republican majority, it was not considered politically possible to raise revenue to fund education to the level required so Prop 123 represented a grand compromise.

Personal life

While attending Arizona State University, Ducey met his wife, Angela, and they currently reside in Paradise Valley, where they are raising their three sons, Jack, Joe and Sam.

Electoral history

Arizona Treasurer Republican Primary Election, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±
Republican	Doug Ducey	211,493	41.36
Republican	Barbara Leff	119,891	23.44
Republican	Thayer Verschoor	112,975	22.09
Republican	Ted Carpenter	67,026	13.11

Arizona Treasurer Election, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±
Republican	Doug Ducey	859,672	51.86
Democratic	Andrei Cherny	685,865	41.37
Libertarian	Thane Eichenauer	66,166	3.99
Green	Thomas Meadows	46,115	2.78

Arizona Governor Republican Primary Election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±
Republican	Doug Ducey	200,607	37.17
Republican	Scott Smith	119,107	22.07
Republican	Christine Jones	89,922	16.66
Republican	Ken Bennett	62,010	11.49
Republican	Andrew Thomas	43,822	8.12
Republican	Frank Riggs	24,168	4.48
Republican	Mike Aloisi (Write-in)	27	0.00
Republican	Alice Lukasik (Write-in)	27	0.00

Arizona Governor Election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±
Republican	Doug Ducey	805,062	53.44
Democratic	Fred DuVal	626,921	41.62
Libertarian	Barry Hess	57,337	3.81
Americans Elect	John Lewis Mealer	15,432	1.02
Write-in	J. Johnson	1,520	0.10
Write-in	Brian Balley	50	0.00
Republican/Write-in	Alice Novoa	43	0.00
Write-in	Cary Dolego	29	0.00
Write-in	Curtis Woolsey	15	0.00
Write-in	Diana-Elizabeth Kennedy	7	0.00

External links

• Official website