Arizona is well-known for its saguaro cactus, the Grand Canyon, Sedona\u2019s red rocks, the Hoover Dam, and its hot, dry desert climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arizonans have good reason to be proud of themselves. The state is home to quite a few powerful people, as you\u2019ll see below, and has some of the most beautiful scenery in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s surprising that many of them still live in Arizona, whether they were born or raised there. We\u2019re willing to wager that you were unaware of these most influential people in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Related: <\/strong>Top 15 Most Influential People In Tennessee | Social Media Handles 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most influential people in Arizona are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>Top 12 Most Influential People In\u00a0Texas | Social Media Handles 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n American professional wrestler, actor, and television host Michael Shawn Hicken bottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name, Shawn Michaels, is among the most influential people in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We refer him to as one of the best professional wrestlers in history and go by the monikers \u201cMr. WrestleMania\u201d and \u201cHeartbreak Kid.\u201d Michaels competed for WWE, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), starting in 1988 and ending in 1998 when a back ailment caused him to take his first retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>Top 20 Most Influential People In Utah | Social Media Handles 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n An American actress, singer, songwriter, model, and former Miss World United States, Lynda Carter was born Linda Jean C\u00f3rdova Carter on July 24, 1951. She has won several beauty pageants. In the Miss World 1972 competition, she would go on to place in the semifinals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The American live-action television series Wonder Woman, based on the DC comic book fictitious superheroine character of the same name, in which Carter played Diana Prince\/Wonder Woman, aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979, is where Carter is best known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch (born July 2, 1983) is one of the most influential people in Arizona. She is an American actress, singer, and composer and she published The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, two of the best-selling albums of the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She and Santana received a Grammy for \u201cThe Game of Love,\u201d which won for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Together with her friend and fellow musician Jessica Harp, she founded the country music group The Wreckers in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With their Grammy Award-winning tune \u201cLeave the Pieces,\u201d they won the category for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. In order for each member to focus on their separate careers, The Wreckers broke up in 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She has since published two extended plays in 2010 and 2011, and on April 7, 2017, Hopeless Romantic, her third solo album, was made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The most well-known of Barbara Eden\u2019s roles is as \u201cJeannie\u201d in the comedy I Dream of Jeannie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead, August 23, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and stage performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>Top 20 Most Influential People in Vermont | Social Media Handles 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A native of Arizona, Brooke Langton, born on November 27, 1970, is among the most influential people in Arizona. She gained the most fame playing Samantha Reilly in the Fox prime-time soap drama Melrose Place from 1996 to 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, Langton played the lead in the 2000 comedy movie The Replacements and starred in the USA Network drama series The Net (1998\u20131999), which had a brief run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ins<\/strong><\/a>t<\/a><\/strong>agram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabrielle Dee Gifford is an American politician and advocate of gun control who was born in Arizona on June 8, 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She served as a Democratic representative for Arizona\u2019s 8th congressional district in the US House of Representatives from January 3, 2007, until she resigned on January 25, 2012, following an attempt on her life that left her with a severe brain injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Arizona, she is the third woman to be elected to Congress. As a \u201cBlue Dog\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrat, her emphasis on health care reform and illegal immigration attracted the attention of those who opposed her campaign and drew condemnation from several liberal organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gifford was born in Tucson, Arizona, and is a graduate of Cornell University and Scripps College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American columnist, novelist, co-host of The View, and contributor to ABC News. She is one of the most influential people in Arizona. McCain is the daughter of John McCain, a U.S. senator who ran for president in 2008, and Cindy McCain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n McCain attracted media attention on her own in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, where she wrote about pop culture, fashion, and music while chronicling life on the campaign road. She started writing for The Daily Beast in 2009, and in 2011 she started appearing as a contributor on MSNBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>15 Highest-Paid School District in Arizona<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard Gordon Kleindienst was\u00a0an American lawyer, politician, and attorney general during the Watergate political controversy, lived from August 5, 1923, until February 3, 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>Who are the 15 highest paid players on the Arizona Cardinals| 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Born on September 15, 1988, Chelsea Kane is an American actress and singer who ranks among the most influential people in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She is well-known for playing Riley Perrin in the Freeform sitcom Baby Daddy and Stella Malone in the Disney Channel sitcom television series Jonas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonathan Charles Rauch is an American novelist, journalist, and activist who was born on April 26, 1960, in Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rauch began his career as a writer after graduating from Yale University by working for National Journal, The Economist, and the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He works as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution for governance studies and as a contributing editor for The Atlantic. He has written books and essays on economics, culture, and public policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He argued in a brief ebook titled Political Realism, published in 2015, that obsessive efforts to organize politics have made it more difficult for political parties and professionals to forge governing coalitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cesar Chavez was a Latino American civil rights activist and American labor leader (born C\u00e9sar Estrada Ch\u00e1vez-April 23, 1993). He is also one of the most influential people in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chavez, who was of Mexican American descent and was born in Yuma, Arizona, worked as a manual laborer and served in the US Navy for two years in his early years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He moved to California, got married, and joined the Community Service Organization (CSO), where he assisted workers in registering to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They appointed him national director of the CSO in 1959, with a base in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chavez rose to prominence as the most well-known Latino-American civil rights activist thanks to the American labor movement\u2019s vigorous promotion of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>15 Highest Paid Nurses in Arizona<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Timothy \u201cTJ\u201d Creamer was born on November 15, 1959, and is a colonel in the US Army and a former astronaut and NASA flight director. Creamer grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, while being born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The former Margaret E. Hammer is his wife. They have two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>How to Start a Business in Arizona 2023: The Ultimate Guide, Step-by-Step<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Samuel Garza Bernstein is a prominent screenwriter, director, and author who was born in 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spent his childhood living abroad with his family in places, including Cairo, Honolulu, Austin, Phoenix, Albuquerque, New York City, Los Angeles, and Ft. Collins, Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and his husband Ronald Shore founded Babyhead Productions together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The couple had been together since 1994 and were married in a Jewish ceremony in 1996, then in Vancouver, Canada in 2003 when it became legal for same-sex couples to marry, and then again in 2013 in West Hollywood, California after the Supreme Court ruled down Proposition 8. He works as a volunteer Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Los Angeles County for foster kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew Joseph Dallas is an American actor who is best known for portraying Kyle XY in the ABC Family series Kyle XY. He was born on October 21, 1982. Matthew Joseph Dallas is one of the most influential people in Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Insta<\/strong><\/a>g<\/a><\/strong>ram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosemary DeCamp was an American actress who worked in radio, television, and film from November 14, 1910, to February 20, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>Top 15 Stocks that Pay Monthly Dividends & ETFs in 2023<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Stand-up comedian Pablo Ridson Francisco was born in the United States on January 4, 1974. In Tempe, Arizona, he began his performing career with improv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is another influential person in Arizona, Joseph Adam Jonas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is an American actor, musician, and songwriter born on August 15, 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with his brothers Nick and Kevin, he gained notoriety as a member of the pop-rock group the Jonas Brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s About Time, the group\u2019s first studio album, wasn\u2019t a commercial success when it was released in 2006 by the Columbia label. The group released their self-titled second studio album in 2007 after signing with Hollywood Records, and it became a smash hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Actress and singer Sharon Ann Leal was born in the United States on October 17, 1972. She is well known for her work on the television programs Legacy, Guiding Light, and Boston Public and for her performances in the films Dreamgirls, This Christmas, Why Did I Get Married?, and Why Did I Get Married Too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: <\/strong>15 Highest-Paid Jobs In Arizona<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Department of the Treasury\u2019s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs is Monica Crowley, who was born on September 19, 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She has worked as a lobbyist and political commentator and is among the most influential people in Arizona. She worked (with a few gaps) as a contributor to Fox News from 1996 to 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former online opinion editor for The Washington Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Donald Trump administration named the National Security Council\u2019s deputy national security advisor Crowley in December 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After learning that she had stolen material from both her 2000 Ph.D. dissertation and her 2012 book What the (Bleep) Just Happened?, she withdrew a month later. Trump announced Crowley’s appointment as the Treasury Department’s spokesperson on July 16, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Media Handles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr., an American entrepreneur who was born on July 30, 1964, is Netflix\u2019s co-chief executive officer and chief content officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nList of the Most Influential People in Arizona<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Shawn Michaels<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Lynda Carter<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Michelle Branch<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Barbara Eden<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Brooke Langton<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Gabrielle Giffords<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Meghan McCain<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Richard Kleindienst<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Chelsea Kane<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Jonathan Rauch<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
11. Cesar Chavez<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
12. Timothy Creamer<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
13. Samuel Bernstein<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
14. Matt Dallas<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
15. Rosemary DeCamp<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
16. Pablo Francisco<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
17. Joe Jonas<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
18. Sharon Leal<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
19. Monica Crowley<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
20. Ted Sarandos<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n