Brewer, a conservative and avowed foe of President Barack Obama's health care reform law, announced her support for the Medicaid expansion in January, but faced stiff resistance from fellow Republicans in Arizona's House and Senate. During a marathon session that began Wednesday afternoon and stretched into the wee hours of Thursday morning before culminating in a final vote late Thursday afternoon, a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in the House and Senate to pass the Medicaid expansion. Brewer played hardball with Republican legislative leaders in the state to get her way, earning their ire in the process. She followed through on her threat to veto any bill not addressing the Medicaid expansion last month. On Tuesday, she raised the stakes by calling a special session and forcing the temporarily adjourned legislature back to work on Medicaid and the state's budget.

Gov. Jan Brewer, a shocking advocate for Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, has convinced members of her own party in the state's GOP legislature to take the money. That means another 300,000 low-income residents will get health care coverage.It wasn't an electoral decision on Brewer's part. She's term-limited out of office after her final year in 2014. Whatever her motives, good on her for getting this done. It's smart for her state, and it's good for her constituents.