Samuel Pearson Goddard III (born January 29, 1947) is an American attorney and politician. He served as the Mayor of Phoenix from 1984 to 1990, on the Central Arizona Water Conservation District from 2001 to 2003 and as the 24th Attorney General of Arizona from 2003 to 2011. Goddard is a member of the Democratic Party. He has twice run for Governor of Arizona, in 1990 and in 2010. After leaving office as Attorney General, he led his own law firm, Goddard Law Office, PLC. He declined to run for governor for a third time in 2014 and was instead the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State of Arizona in the 2014 elections, losing to Republican State Senator Michele Reagan. Goddard was a potential candidate for governor in 2018 and chose not to run. Early life, education and career Goddard was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, the son of Julia E. "Judy" (née Hatch) and Samuel Pearson Goddard Jr., who served as Governor of Arizona from 1965 to 1967. His great-grandfather, Ozias M. Hatch, was Illinois Secretary of State 1857 to 1865. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, a prep school in Exeter, New Hampshire. After graduating from Harvard College in 1969, he served an active duty tour in the U.S. Navy. Returning to Arizona, he received his J.D. degree from Arizona State University in 1976. His time as a private attorney saw him working in the Arizona Attorney General's office, where he prosecuted white collar crime. Goddard is married and has one son. Early political career Goddard's first serious foray into electoral politics came in 1982, when he led the successful push for members of the Phoenix City Council to be elected from districts, instead of by a majority of all voters citywide. This allowed minorities from certain parts of Phoenix to be elected and represent their home areas and giving those areas a voice on the council. The next election saw the election of the city's first Latino and African-American to the council in over a decade. The measure is credited with significantly opening up Phoenix city government, and in 1983, Goddard was elected mayor. Within a decade, all of the members of the City Council who had been elected at-large, and who had been considered unbeatable under the previous system, were no longer serving on the council. Goddard was re-elected four times, serving through 1990, when he