What history can teach Arizona’s business leaders about political stability
In the Phoenix Business Journal, Leadership Now Arizona co-founder and Goodmans Interior Structures CEO Adam Goodman looks at how Mexico’s business community handled the election of 1910—and what Arizona employers can take from it before ballots go out this fall.
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Goodman opens with a description most readers will assume is contemporary: a leader who claims he alone can fix the economy, casts himself as an outsider against a corrupt establishment, calls the press an enemy of the people, and fills the courts with loyalists. The subject is Porfirio Díaz. On paper, Mexico in 1910 resembled the United States—a constitution, a congress, independent courts, elections every few years—and foreign investment gave the business community a reason to overlook how Díaz kept power. Weeks before the June vote, his challenger was arrested while campaigning and spent the election in jail.
That election was administered locally, by officials devoted to one man. Arizona’s 2026 elections will also be run locally, and Goodman notes that at least 13 officials who will help run them have publicly disputed Arizona’s certified 2020 results—including the official who oversees early voting in Maricopa County, where his company operates.
His concern is procedural. Interference produces contested results, contested results produce lawsuits, and an election tied up in court for months leaves open who signs a permit, who enforces a contract, and which agency has authority to act.
“When election administration is threatened, silence isn’t neutral.”
Employers are positioned to act. Edelman’s 2026 survey finds they are trusted by 78% of their own workers, 25 points ahead of government (Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, 2026). Goodman’s five steps, before early voting begins:
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Explain how ballots are processed
Tell employees how the state counts votes, and correct false claims. A slow count is not a rigged count.
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Help staff short-handed election offices
Power the Polls matches employees to local jurisdictions that need poll workers.
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Stand with election professionals
Tour their facilities, learn the process, and speak up when administrators are threatened.
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Commit in writing, in advance
Put on the record that your company will accept a lawfully certified result, regardless of who prevails.
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Agree with peers before it’s needed
Settle with your chamber and fellow employers what would warrant speaking publicly together.
