On November 3, 1936, Stanford was elected Governor of Arizona, winning a landslide with 70.68% of the vote against former Republican Governor Thomas Edward Campbell who only received 29.11%. The tally was 87,678 to 36,114 votes, with 260 votes going to the Socialist candidate. On January 4, 1937, he was sworn into office. During his term, Stanford dealt with the restoration of Arizona's economy, which deteriorated during the Great Depression. Declining to run for reelection in 1938, Stanford left office on January 2, 1939. Post-Governorship After a brief period in private law practice, he defeated Alfred C. Lockwood for a seat on the Arizona Supreme Court in 1943. Stanford served two terms (1943–1955) and retired as chief justice. He participated in more than 1,000 Supreme Court decisions, writing 200 of them. He was one of two men to serve as both Governor and chief justice of Arizona, the other being fellow Democrat Ernest McFarland. Stanford was the state coordinator for the 1960 Kennedy-Johnson campaign and served as a presidential elector. The Democrats did not carry Arizona that year. He was involved in real estate as well. Stanford homesteaded and developed large tracts of land including a section north of the Arizona Canal and east of the Biltmore Hotel. Stanford died December 15, 1963, and is buried in Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona. References Democratic Party governors of Arizona 1879 births 1963 deaths Chief Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court People from Buffalo Gap, Texas Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court