Sam Goddard; shepherded advances for Arizona; at 86

PHOENIX -- Sam Goddard, who as governor of Arizona helped secure water for the region, advanced civil rights, and improved the state's trade relations with Mexico, died Wednesday. He was 86.

Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for his son, state Attorney General Terry Goddard, said the former governor had been in hospice care following complications from a broken hip.

Mr. Goddard was Arizona's 12th governor, serving one two-year term from 1965-67. He lost a reelection bid to Republican Jack Williams in 1966.

He also served as state Democratic Party chairman for more than a decade and was on the Democratic National Committee for 20 years.

As governor, he helped organize a compromise agreement among several governors to support a bill authorizing the Colorado River Basin Project. That established the 336-mile Central Arizona Project -- providing a reliable water source in the desert that propelled the state's economic and population growth.

Mr. Goddard also signed a bill in 1965 that prohibited discrimination in voting and access to public places based on race, religion, gender, or ethnicity.

Mr. Goddard worked toward improving state management by establishing the first budget office in Arizona history, and he improved state trade relations with Mexico through his close relationship with the governor of Sonora, Luis Encinas.