Evan Mecham, the feisty, ultra-conservative Pontiac dealer whose turbulent tenure as governor deeply divided Arizona and prompted his impeachment in 1988, died Thursday after a long illness.

Evan Mecham, 83, the Arizona governor impeached, indicted and subjected to a recall campaign in 1988 for misuse of state funds and his inflammatory racial opinions, died Feb. 21 at a Phoenix hospice.

The Arizona state House votes to impeach Gov. Evan Mecham (R) on campaign finance, obstruction of justice and other charges. Mecham had been in office only 13 months.

Former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham angrily points his finger at a prosecution lawyer during testimony in his Senate impeachment trial in Phoenix in this March 17, 1988 file photo.

At the time, Mecham was nine months into what would be a brief stint as Arizona’s governor. Mecham was the subject of a recall campaign, partly because of his statements and partly because of ...

Political tumult in Arizona opened a path for a perennial election gadfly with anti-government leanings to win the governor’s race in 1986. Evan Mecham served 15 months as governor before being ...

PHOENIX — Evan Mecham, the only Arizona governor to be impeached, tried and ejected from office, died late Thursday at the Arizona State Veteran Home after a lengthy illness.

Not even Coretta Scott King herself, widow of the long dead civil rights leader, is more likely than Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham to remember always that the third Monday in January is Dr. Martin ...

PHOENIX — Evan Mecham, a firebrand conservative who served 15 months as Arizona's governor before a dramatic impeachment trial removed him from office in 1988, died Thursday, a former aide said.

It’s 1988. We’re 10 years old and Grandmother Ethel is visiting from Florida. The recall effort of Arizona Governor Evan Mecham is in full effect. Arizona hates him. Our folks hate him ...

Former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham, on why he is not about to wash his hands of politics despite his impeachment in April: “All they took from me was a job, but I’m still fighting to get rid of ...

Evan Mecham, a firebrand conservative who served 15 months as Arizona's governor before a dramatic impeachment trial removed him from office in 1988, died Thursday, a former aide said. He was 83.