Who is running to be Arizona’s next superintendent of public instruction?

PHOENIX – The 2026 race for Arizona superintendent of public instruction has drawn interest from multiple candidates, including two with previous experience as statewide elected officials.

As of Feb. 3, eight people had filed statements of interest to enter a primary to be the state’s next top education official.

Anybody running for state office in Arizona must file a statement of interest with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office before circulating nominating petitions. Only the candidates who collect enough valid signatures will appear on the ballot.

Incumbent Superintendent Tom Horne is facing a challenge from Treasurer Kimberly Yee in the Republican primary, which is on track to be a two-person race.

Meanwhile, five Democrats and one member of the Arizona Independent Party have expressed interest the job.

Here is a list of everyone who filed a statement of interest for the Arizona superintendent of public instruction primary elections as of Feb. 3, with links to their campaign websites or social media accounts when available:

Republicans

• Tom Horne
• Kimberly Yee

Democrats

• Michael Butts
• Sam Huang
• Joshua Levinski
• Brett Newby
• Teresa Leyba Ruiz

Arizona Independent

• Dr. Stephen Neal Jr.

Arizona superintendent of public instruction candidates discuss top issues

With six months to go until the July 21 primary elections, KTAR News 92.3 FM asked all the potential candidates to identify the state’s most pressing educational issue and how they would address it as superintendent. All but Levinski and Huang responded.

Horne said continuing to improve math and reading scores is essential for the state, with plans to help work on a new AI tutoring tool to help students and teachers.

“I’ve worked very hard to help the schools for their academics. We have 15 initiatives. I’m personally involved in every one to help the schools do better. I’ve worked very hard to get police in the schools to protect the lives of our students and our staffs,” he said.

Horne is in his second stint superintendent after holding the office from 2003 to 2011. He served as Arizona attorney general before being elected as superintendent again in 2022.

Yee, meanwhile, said she wants to focus on improving academics for our state’s future workforce.

“If you look at the national assessment for educational progress … we’re at the 25th percentile in both reading and in math. And if you look at the grade levels in which they really target, this is fourth and eighth grade, we’re at the bottom. Twenty-five percent proficiency is not acceptable,” she said.

Yee is currently state treasurer but has a background in educational policy. She said her experience with economics could help improve the Arizona Department of Education’s funding model.

Democratic candidates target school voucher program

The state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) voucher program, which allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses, was the top issue for two of the three Democratic candidates who responded.

Ruiz is the former president of Glendale Community College, teaching for 25 years before that role. She said the most pressing issue for Arizona is to stop the $2,000 auto-approval system for voucher purchases.

“We’re not going to auto-approve something and then go back and try to figure out if that was an appropriate expense or educational expense. No, that has to happen on the front end. These are taxpayer dollars,” she said.

Newby, a board-certified behavior analyst, is concerned that the original purpose of ESAs, helping special needs students, is losing attention since the program was made available to all students.

“ESA started out to help kids that had developmental disabilities here in Arizona and get services that they need. And that’s a great starting point, but also we need to ensure that we’re still providing those services to kids in school because they’re required to go to school. And sometimes, you know, they’re an afterthought or there’s not enough funding there,” he said.

Meanwhile, education funding is the main priority of Butts’ campaign, with the former teacher and school administrator saying the system needs to be refreshed to ensure schools are getting the money they need.

“Education is not a right unless it’s fully funded, right? And so, on that premise, it’s that, you know, we have to fund education in order for everyone to have quality access to education,” he said.

Neal, the Arizona Independent Party (formerly known as the No Labels Party) candidate, is former special education director and current school psychologist. He said his priority is building an educational base for students to build on in the classroom.

“We need to change. We need to completely rethink how we actually see education, but also reform how education should be. We need to be more innovative,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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