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Richard Mahoney with his Mother on election night 1990.
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For more than 130 years in Arizona, the Mahoney family has served in community causes and public service. Dick Mahoney's grandfather,
William P. Mahoney, Sr. was one of the founder's of the state and among its famous sheriffs at the end of the frontier. Controversial
for many reasons (among which was his preference for carrying his sawed-off shotgun into the meetings of the Arizona legislature).
Senator Bill Mahoney pushed into law the first minimum wage law for women - the second such law passed in the United States.
Dick's father, William P. Mahoney, Jr., served as Maricopa County attorney and as a United States ambassador under President John F.
Kennedy. Bill Mahoney led the fight to desegregate Arizona's public schools. His mother, Alice Mahoney, was the national chairwoman
of the independent candidacy of Senator Eugene McCarthy for president.
Richard Mahoney served as chairman of the Democratic delegation to the national convention in 1984 and was elected in 1986 to the
Central Arizona Water Conservation District in 1986. He ran successfully for Secretary of State in 1990, defeating the incumbent.
While in office he spearheaded reforms in Arizona's election laws and returned on average 30 percent of his budget to the state.
In 1994, he ran for the United States Senate, losing by 59 votes in the primary. In 2002, he was the independent candidate for
governor of Arizona, winning almost 9 percent of the vote. Mahoney has advocated a host of controversial positions from abolishing
the income tax in favor of a single consumption tax to decriminalizing drugs in favor of education and rehabilitation.
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