PHOENIX — Arizona Republican Gov. Jan Brewer has ridden a wave of support for the state's controversial illegal immigration law to defeat her Democratic challenger. Brewer was secretary of state when she became governor in January upon Democrat Janet Napolitano's resignation. Napolitano quit midway through her second term to become a member of President Barack Obama's Cabinet.
Brewer's opponent Terry Goddard is the state attorney general who twice ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 1990s.
Brewer's campaign was buoyed by her April signing of the immigration law, making her a star among Republicans nationwide.
She overcame a painful performance in the only debate of the campaign in which she suffered through a cringe-eliciting pause during her opening statement.
