Stressed-Out Arizona Governor Caught On Camera Calling State Capitol "Hell Hole"

Phoenix, AZ -- Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) was caught on tape Wednesday evening at a Republican event in Tucson calling Arizona's capitol "a hell hole." This statement comes after months of rancorous budget battles that have pitted Brewer's office against both the leadership of her own party and the Democrats.

Nicknamed "the accidental governor," Brewer has had a rocky year since automatically ascended from Secretary of State to the State House when former Governor Janet Napolitano (D) left for Washington, DC to become the nation's Secretary of Homeland Security. At a time when state governments across the country were facing record budget crises, Brewer was dealt the largest per-capita state budget deficit in the nation at her swearing in.

Her "hell hole" quip also came within hours of a Public Policy Polling poll (pdf) that showed the likely 2010 Democratic candidate, Terry Goddard, has a higher approval rating - even among Republicans - than Brewer. Another poll had been released the day before by the Behavior Research Center that showed Brewer's approval rating had dropped from only 28 points in May to an even lower 22 points.

Brewer has become so unpopular, even within her own party, that even former Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) has discussed running in against her in the 2010 primary. Symington resigned from the Arizona governor's office in 1997 after being convicted of fraud.

In Tuscon Wednesday night, Brewer told the Pima County Republican Women that "it is a great relief, to say the least, to get out of that hell hole in Phoenix and be down here in Tucson."

Brewer's Communications Director went into crisis-management mode immediately, telling reporters that Brewer was referring to the "hellish budget hole" and not the capital city of Phoenix.

Get HuffPost Eyes&Ears on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow Dawn Teo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dawnteo

Comments

[mydoglucky]

10:14 AM on 09/28/2009

True story, I live in N. Scottsdale, my neighborhood friends, wanted to do an intervention on me when they saw the Obama sticker on my car bumper. Several other neighbors, whispered that they were voting for him to. WHISPERED! All televisions at the health club are on Fox News. Glenn Beck makes sense and McCain, who has done nothing for this state, will be reelected easily. Sheriff Joe is the best thing since sliced bread, guns are everywhere and Glenn Beck makes sense according to the guy who did a washer repair for me.
And, yes, it's hotter than hell. A rattlesnake in my garage, the remains of a bird in my backyard after the coyotes got him and no paved bike paths that woould be safe to ride on Been here 2 years, I'm trying but all in all I'd rather be back East.

[plaidsportcoat]

11:46 PM on 09/27/2009

If SYmington wins, then the feds can defund the entire state of Arizona, like they did ACORN, since he's a fraudster!

[vippy]

08:34 PM on 09/27/2009

Wouldn't that apply to all of them?

[UncleJimbo]

08:19 PM on 09/27/2009

Why do News Agencies,News Sites etc. etc. Always use a photo of the Az State Capitol MUSEUM! That buliding is NOT The State Capitol....It's a Museum! I'm for Pa. but my Brother lives in Chandler and I've toured the "Old" State Capitol,the State Capitol is behind the Building they always show! Sorry it just bugs me!

[dkan71]

07:32 PM on 09/27/2009

I'm a Democrat living in Phoenix, AZ and I totally got where she was coming from. I think it's a fair assessment of the nightmare that's been going on in the Capitol. I don't fault her for her language one bit.

[Greywolf Borealis]

06:03 PM on 09/27/2009

Well, it is in Arizona.

[Cambridge9]

11:41 AM on 09/27/2009

I have travelled extensively thru this country and what struck me was that - no matter from which border I entered AZ - I felt the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders. However, at the time I wasn't thinking in terms of politics and I was just passing thru. The feeling was much more profound when I was in Indian territory and I honestly believe that my feeling of peace was due to the Indian influence there. One thing I didn't think about was that those people mostly lived in poverty but I think their beliefs in not OWNING the land but simply being it's caretakers had a lot to do with it. I just wish that they were better educated and given more opportunities. If we think about it, white people have used the American Indians in many ways - and not contributed much to their well-being. A case in point is the 'windtalkers' - Navajo speakers during the second world conflict. The whole Navajo Nation should have been rewarded!

[Jesster]

01:19 PM on 09/27/2009

Funny how our legal concept of "ownership" somehow fails to translate into any kind of "caretaker" instinct. Everything and everyone is disposable. Ownership does not include any sense of responsibility: it merely means that we are free to exploit and exhaust our "property" in any reckless and selfish manner in which we choose.

[Cambridge9]

01:58 PM on 09/27/2009

By the way, Jester, I just read your Bio. You are definitely a 'thinker'. Nice to know there are still some out there. I guess I'm somewhat older than you (75 - and not ashamed of it) but, like you, I'm still trying to figure myself out. I'll tell you what though, my motorcycle trip around this country (always OFF the Interstates) taught me a lot about this country and it's peoples, but also a lot about myself - and now I am very much at peace with myself - until some of these vile TV idiots get me to climb aboard my high horse again.

Good luck in figuring yourself out.

[Greywolf Borealis]

06:07 PM on 09/27/2009

That same feeling comes to me anytime I am near any Indian Reservation or even a historical site like White Bird Canyon or Little Big Horn or at the grave site of some great chief like Joseph. They have an appreciation for nature and the planet not widely found in white men.
Be well.

[Indie2008]

10:38 AM on 09/27/2009

Did Arizona have governors before air conditioning?

[delandjim]

02:55 PM on 09/27/2009

Yes we did have governors first.
We bacame a state in 1912 and although modern A/C was invented in 1902 my understanding is that the first one in Arizona was in the 1920's in Goldwater's dept. store.

[queeraz]

10:13 AM on 09/27/2009

The Republican't legislature sent her a state budget that included cutting the insurance for domestic partners and their siblings. It accounted for approximately 3 million dollars. No "hetero" medical benefits were cut. They consume $625 million. This was strictly a bigoted act by the Repugs to save 0.48% of the medical insurance cost of state employees. They are all a pathetic excuse for leaders. I hope the state votes their sorry asses out of office but, being such a Repug state, it probably won't happen.

[neesy08]

09:21 AM on 09/27/2009

How can he run for Governor if he has a conviction? That is a felony charge is it not? Maybe that is why Janet quit and took the post offered her by Obama. I visted my ex with the kids and there is no way I could live in Phoenix! It was over 100 degrees the whole week we were there. I spent much of it at our hotel pool or inside the hotel. Who wants to sightsee when it is that hot!

[Cloball]

06:10 AM on 09/28/2009

First mistake. Don't vacation there in the summer. People usually go there in the winter, when the weather in their home state is cold. Second mistake. Your Ex lives in Phoenix. Make him move to Tucson. Phoenix is hotter than Tucson, and Tucson's desert is much prettier. Lush desert, if you can believe that. The hikes are beautiful. No laying around the pool all day there!

[neesy08]

09:08 AM on 09/28/2009

LOL! He moved to Washington State.

[TheHandyman]

02:35 AM on 09/27/2009

Hey, I lived in Phoenix for a year and she is right. I lived in Hell for 3 months and liked it a lot better than Phoenix. There is something really wrong when people are proud of the fact that they are on their 132nd day of temperatures over 100! I couldn't believe it when my parents moved to Blythe , California and the people there got in fist fights with people from Needles over which was hotter! I think that between the bad water and the heat that their brains had cooked!

[MrPragmatic]

02:59 AM on 09/27/2009

Couldn't agree more! Phoenix is a hell hole 5 months out of the year. Just look at the calendar and it's 106 today. And BTW the state capital is on the wetsern fringe of lovely downtown phoenix, which is a hell hole no matter what time of the year.

[Indie2008]

10:36 AM on 09/27/2009

It's a "Dry" heat !

[Andreams]

09:55 AM on 09/27/2009

I've lived in Phoenix and I now live on the Gulf Coast. Trust me, Phoenix is cool compared to New Orleans. You walk out the door and you're instantly soaked by the heat and humidity.

[plaidsportcoat]

11:48 PM on 09/27/2009

Heat lovers like y'all will probably inherit the earth!

[wonketteRAWKS]

11:00 PM on 09/26/2009

Is this the same guv'nor who pulled benefits from partners of gay state employees because God told her so?

[Carol Snow]

11:38 PM on 09/26/2009

Yes, this would be the one and the one who supports the idea of taking services away from children period to solve the state's budget problem, even children with disabilities. She is a real card our accidental Governor. I got upset with President Obama for choosing Napolitano because this lady is what we were left with. It is good to hear that Terry Goddard's approval rating is so high. President Obama should make it up to us and come to Az to campaign for him.

[John51]

12:06 AM on 09/27/2009

I agree that he robbed our state of a valuable resource and hope this wasn't a political game to insure an easy victory for another democratic governor. I think it more important to find a way to get rid of our worthless senators, and frankly, even the poor excuse I have for a Democratic congressperson.

[edwarvir]

10:56 PM on 09/26/2009

The truth is the light. lol

[teepeeyoyo]

08:56 PM on 09/26/2009

Unemployment rolls here she comes. lol

[Ventoi]

06:18 PM on 09/26/2009

I once tried to move to Phoenix...

seven or eight things...each more pertinent than the one before...

happened in my life so that I would not be able to go

(fourteen evil spirits rule over me)

I would be too happy in the heat and the sand.

They won't let me be happy.

I DID buy the orange flowers...I have waited nine years and am not waiting any longer.