SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. – Republican Party activist Don Goldwater (search) announced his candidacy Tuesday for governor of Arizona in 2006, sounding some of the same conservative themes once heard from his uncle, 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater (search).
"The state is headed in the wrong direction," said the 50-year-old candidate. "We must return to the basic principles of limited government, individual liberty and economic freedom."
He said he would push for tax cuts and school choice and combat illegal immigration. He said he would fully enforce a voter-approved immigration law, including its requirement that voters produce identification at polling places.
He is seeking to unseat first-term Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano (search).
Goldwater's family name could be a big asset in a crowded GOP primary field with no clear front-runner. Barry Goldwater was a five-term senator who lost to President Lyndon B. Johnson in a landslide in 1964. He retired from the Senate in 1987 and died in 1998.
The younger Goldwater has served as party chairman for a legislative district on the outskirts of Phoenix. He resigned Friday from a state Department of Administration job.
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