Governor Daniel E. Garvey

DANIEL E. GARVEY was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on June 19, 1886. He attended parochial schools in Mississippi, and graduated from St. Aloysius College in 1901. Garvey was a railroad accountant when he migrated to Arizona and continued in that capacity until 1930, when he became councilman of Tucson. He was elected treasurer of Pima County, Arizona, in 1935, and treasurer of Tucson in 1938. In 1940, Garvey moved to Phoenix, and served as assistant to Secretary of State Harry M. Moore. Garvey was appointed secretary of state in 1942 upon Moore’s death. On May 25, 1948, Governor Sidney P. Osborn died in office, and as secretary of state, Garvey became Arizona’s acting governor. The most significant event during Garvey’s tenure as acting governor was the ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court that gave Indians on reservations the right to vote in primary elections. Garvey won reelection for the governor’s office on November 4, 1948, and was sworn into office on January 3, 1949. During his administration, a new highway code was passed, a children’s colony was created, and higher education was given increased financial support. Garvey left office on January 1, 1951 after being defeated in the 1950 primary. He was then appointed Arizona’s administrator for the Federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and in 1955 was appointed state examiner, serving until his retirement in 1969. Garvey died on February 5, 1974, and is buried in Tucson, Arizona.