15th Arizona Territorial Legislature

The 15th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which began on January 21, 1889, in Prescott, Arizona, moved to Phoenix on February 7 and did not adjourn till April 11. The session is known as the "Hold-over Legislature" due to the Republican majority extending the length of the session past the sixty-day limit prescribed by law.

During his term of office, Governor C. Meyer Zulick had experienced steadily declining popularity among the territory's population. He remained secure in his position, however, because he had the President's confidence. This situation changed however when Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland during the presidential election of 1888. As the session began it was expected that the incoming President would replace the governor with a member of his own party.

Within the territory, speculation was rife over a possible move of the territorial capital. Phoenix, which was completing construction of a new city hall large enough to hold the territorial legislature, was viewed as the primary challenger to Prescott's hold on the seat of government.

Governor Zulick delivered his speech to the legislature in writing on the session's first day. In the address he called for Arizona to be granted statehood, calling territorial status the reason for the American Revolution. Control of federal school lands needed to fund education within the territory were a secondary benefit of statehood. The need for reapportionment of the legislature and John Wesley Powell's survey of the Grand Canyon were also covered.

The first issue dealt with by the session was a proposal for the relocation of the territorial capitol. A bill to relocate the territorial capital was passed in the House by a vote of 14 to 10 and by the Council on a 9 to 2 vote. Legislative Act No. 1, signed by Governor Zulick on January 26, moved the capitol to Phoenix on February 4, 1889.

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