Impeach This! ...

Impeachment proceedings against Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland on corruption charges raise the question of how common impeachment of governors has been in American history. This Associated Press article suggests that it has been rare. North Carolina's W. W. Holden was the first American governor impeached. In 1871, he was removed from office in a struggle with the Ku Klux Klan after he declared martial law and suspended the right of habeas corpus. The most recent case was Arizona Governor Evan Mecham, who was removed from office in 1988 for obstructing an investigation into death threats made by another state official. Impeachment proceedings may have been more common than this article suggests because impeachment means only the bringing of an official charge against an office holder. It does not mean removal from office. The man Atrios calls"Big Dog" was impeached, but he was not removed from office.

Update: The Associated Press says that Connecticut's Governor Rowland will announce his resignation tonight.