Arizona voters to choose Republican and Democratic nominees for top education position

When you fill out your primary election ballot on Tuesday, you’ll be selecting who could oversee your child’s education next year.

Incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is facing off against Kimberly Yee in the Republican primary, while Teresa Ruiz and Brett Newby are battling it out on the Democratic ballot.

According to data compiled by investigative journalism site The Beam, the superintendent race was one of the priciest in Arizona, with $1.6 million spent among the four candidates, including over $1 million in the Republican contest.

Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program was one of the top debate issues for the candidates from both parties.

The ESA school voucher program allows any Arizona family to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses. It had over 100,000 enrolled students at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Yee, the current state treasurer, and Horne both said private and home schools receiving ESA dollars should not have to be held to the same state standards as public and charter schools.

“They wouldn’t be private schools or home schools if they were under the exact same rules,” Yee said. “Then you would also just eliminate the beauty of what school choice is all about.”

Ruiz, a former president of Glendale Community College, and Newby, a behavior analyst and longtime educator, both think the ESA system needs more oversight.

“It feels like this whole program is on autopilot, and just millions and millions of dollars are being spent unchecked and unchallenged,” Ruiz said. “That needs to end immediately.”

An ESA accountability initiative is set to appear on the November ballot, allowing voters to decide if schools receiving voucher money should be held to similar standards as public district and charter schools.

Keeping teachers in the classroom

When it comes to supporting local teachers, Horne said addressing behavioral issues from students is necessary to help fix the state’s ongoing teacher shortage.

“We need to pass a law to encourage administrators to support teachers on discipline. Too many administrators are too lax,” Horne said. “Actions have to have consequences. … We need to provide incentives for administrators to support our teachers on discipline.”

Newby said support for teachers needs to come in the form of increased funding.

“Without equitable funding for our public schools and our school districts, the teachers don’t have all the tools that they need and the resources to allow our students to achieve the success that they’re capable of,” Newby said.

The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Find the nearest vote center in Maricopa County here.

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

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