Ana Frohmiller stood before judges, legislators, lawmen and university presidents, arguing that Arizona’s money must be spent wisely and appropriately. No one, proclaimed the state’s first female auditor, was going to misuse state funds on her watch.
Some officials complained she treated the state’s money as if it were her own, but Ana was used to dealing with petulant and occasionally self-indulgent individuals of all ages. From the time she was a teenager, she shouldered responsibilities beyond her years.
Born July 28, 1891, in Burlington, Vermont, Anastasia (or Ana as she was known) and her family moved to Phoenix in 1898. When her mother died in 1908, within days of giving birth to her eighth child, 17-year-old Ana left school to care for her younger siblings. She worked a variety of jobs while taking night classes to complete her education.
In 1916, she applied for a bookkeeping position with Babbitt Brothers Trading Co. in Flagstaff. The five Babbitt brothers had been in the cattle, dry goods and Indian-trading business in Northern Arizona since 1886. Their Flagstaff store contained almost every commodity available on the Western frontier. If Ana could operate a new type of billing machine, she could have the job.
Her friend, Flora Lamson, founder of Phoenix’s Lamson Business College, taught Ana how to operate the newfangled device and she landed the position.
Ana married Joseph Frohmiller, who also worked for Babbitt Brothers, and the couple took over management of the Babbitt Trading Post in Canyon Diablo, about halfway between Flagstaff and Winslow. The Frohmillers divorced in 1926 but remained friends the rest of their lives.
After leaving Babbitt Brothers, Ana became deputy treasurer of Coconino County. In 1922, she was appointed county treasurer and by the 1924 election, she had gained the support of voters by collecting more taxes than any of her predecessors.
She announced her bid for state auditor in 1926 and headed out on the campaign trail. Handing out paper fans emblazoned with her picture, she attended every barbecue, fair and country dance she could manage.
One legislator argued that according to the Arizona Constitution, only a man could become state auditor, but the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote had also dissolved the gender wording in the state constitution.
Handily winning the election, Ana became the first woman in the country elected as a state auditor. Remaining in office for over 20 years, she sometimes ran unopposed as her reputation as a tough-minded keeper of the state’s money frightened off opponents who dreaded confronting the woman who had earned a reputation as “Watchdog of the Arizona Treasury.”
Shortly after taking office, Ana enrolled in a law school correspondence course. She passed the State Bar examination except for one section, but never retook the test to become a full-fledged lawyer. Her legal education, however, allowed her to successfully argue cases during her long tenure.
When she went against the state’s attorney general over an expense she thought illegal, she filed suit in the Arizona Supreme Court but was challenged on the grounds she was not a lawyer. The court ruled in her favor, saying that as a constitutional officer of the state, she was empowered to represent her office in court.
Ana pored over every expenditure that landed on her desk, and through the years she uncovered a wealth of discrepancies and wasteful spending in practically every department.
In 1939, she found “malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance and laxity” in the State Tax Commission, State Corporation Commission and the State Department of Public Education.
She made her share of enemies among state officials as she dissected inflated budgets and unnecessary expenses. Some called her a “czarina,” while others ridiculed her as a “penny-pinching petticoat.”
Other states sought out Ana to study her accounting methods, particularly after she wrote a new financial code for Arizona that, among other changes, subjected all funds to a pre-audit by her office.
In 1950, Ana declared her candidacy for governor, the first woman in Arizona to run for the position. Her nominating petition contained more than 40,000 signatures, even though she only needed 15,000.
She cited her many years as state auditor and her knowledge of all state government departments among her qualifications.
“I offer the voters experience, not an experiment” was her campaign slogan.
After defeating five nominees to win the Democratic ticket, Ana refused to set up a base of operations and insisted on running her own campaign.
She felt the use of posters and billboards did little but clutter the landscape, and because of her long standing in state government, she believed people knew what she looked like and did not need her picture plastered across Arizona’s pristine desert scenery.
She urged women to study politics and join the political fray, arguing, “When the full impact of the woman’s view point is felt in American politics and in politics through out the free countries, there will be a better world.”
Her opponent, well-known Phoenix radio commentator Howard J. Pyle, hired as his campaign manager an up-and-coming young Republican named Barry Goldwater.
Pyle flew around the state in Goldwater’s private airplane, outspending Ana by a wide margin. Pyle branded Ana a puppet and “political stooge” in the Democratic political machine.
The Arizona Republic editorialized against Ana, suggesting women should tend to hearth, home and babies and leave the running of government to men.
The election was so close that the final count was not known for three days. Ana lost by less than 3,000 votes.
Licking her wounds, she accepted a position as secretary/auditor of Arizona Savings and Loan and two years later became founding treasurer of Southwest Savings and Loan, taking over as the firm’s comptroller in 1958.
She was recognized as one of Arizona’s leading figures in the mortgage banking field.
Ana died Nov. 25, 1971, after arranging for all her personal records to be destroyed upon her death.
Political foe Pyle remembered her fondly.
“Mrs. Frohmiller was universally regarded in this state as an outstanding public official, with a long record of responsible service. ... She was solidly qualified to seek the governorship.”
