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Len Munsil, a third-generation Arizonan, has an accomplished record as a public policy expert, a conservative organizational entrepreneur, a lawyer, a journalist, and a writer. In 2006 he won the Republican primary for Governor of Arizona, entering the race late and coming from far behind to upset the most famous name in Arizona political history – Goldwater – while receiving more than 51 percent of the vote in a four-way primary. In the general election he received more than half a million votes but lost to incumbent Janet Napolitano. |
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He has been a principled, movement conservative leader in Arizona for more than 25 years, going back to his college days as editor in chief of the daily newspaper at Arizona State University, where he wrote strongly-worded editorials in support of President Ronald Reagan and a strong national defense. He has experience in all three branches of government, and has devoted nearly two decades to influencing public policy on behalf of children and families. He was interviewed by The Arizona Republic as among 22 “integral” leaders in Arizona at the beginning of 2005. Munsil, 46, has been a licensed attorney for 21 years. He is admitted to practice in Arizona and federal courts, including eight U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal and the United States Supreme Court. He has authored numerous amicus curiae briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court. He served a prestigious judicial clerkship for Judge Daniel A. Manion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and was appointed by Gov. Fife Symington to the Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. As founding President and General Counsel for The Center for Arizona Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization, he presided over CAP’s rapid growth into one of the largest and most powerful state public policy organizations in the United States. He drafted 7 new state laws protecting children and strengthening families, while helping lobby for another 40 laws through his organization. He also founded a group dedicated to opposing judicial activism called “No Bad Judges,” and formerly led a national organization dedicated to fighting illegal child pornography and obscenity. From 2007-2008, he formed and ran a political action committee that advanced Reagan conservative principles through speeches, a website and support for Republican legislative candidates. As a law student and young lawyer, he founded the first ASU and Phoenix Lawyers division chapters of The Federalist Society, a libertarian organization for law students and lawyers. For his work on behalf of families and children, he has received national awards and recognition from the American Family Association, National Family Legal Foundation, The Center for Arizona Policy and Focus on the Family. At present, Munsil is of counsel to the Scottsdale law firm Mueller, Drury & Lawrence, runs a small business providing consulting services to non-profit organizations, teaches political science classes at Southwestern College and serves as President of The Institute for Cultural Influence, a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping youth to defend the values of western civilization. He is an Arizona native, graduating from Scottsdale High School and Arizona State University. At ASU, he not only served as Editor of the university’s daily newspaper, he also was named Outstanding Journalism Graduate of the Walter Cronkite School. From 1981 to 1985 he was a professional sportswriter for the Scottsdale Daily Progress newspaper. He has been an award-winning Sunday School teacher for children and for adults, and has served as chairman of the board of elders at a conservative Baptist church. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for Southwestern College. Mr. Munsil and his wife, Tracy, have eight children — four in college or graduate school, three in high school and one in junior high. Tracy is a summa cum laude graduate of ASU and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science. She is also an Outstanding Journalism Graduate of the Walter Cronkite School at ASU, has served as a journalist in Washington D.C. and as a political media consultant to legislative candidates. She has served as Director of Research and Publications for The Center for Arizona Policy, and was editor of Arizona Citizen from 1993 to 2002. She is now a doctoral candidate in the political science department at ASU. |