Kimberly Yee wins GOP primary for Arizona schools chief over Tom Horne

State Treasurer Kimberly Yee won the Republican primary for Arizona superintendent of public instruction over incumbent Tom Horne on Wednesday.

The Associated Press called the race for Yee after the latest batch of votes dropped Wednesday evening.

While votes are still being counted, Yee led 55.7% to Horne’s 44.3% after the first wave of results in one of the most expensive and personal down-ballot contests of the cycle. Yee’s lead remained relatively the same at 55.2% to 44.8% after the new results came in.

On the Democratic side, Teresa Leyba Ruiz, a former president of Glendale Community College, garnered about 80% of the vote while cruising past behavior analyst and educator Brett Matthew Newby.

The superintendent race was among the priciest in Arizona this year, with $1.6 million spent across all four candidates. More than $1 million of that was concentrated in the Republican contest, according to data compiled by The Beam, an investigative journalism outlet.

The GOP primary turned personal. Horne accused Yee of promoting DEI, while Yee attacked Horne over campaign finance violations from his time as attorney general.

“It does make sense that there’s so much spending because these candidates are out there really hitting each other hard and trying to counter what the other has said about them,” said Evan Wyloge, a journalist with The Beam.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Shira Tanzer contributed to this report.

Subscribe to the KTAR Political Brief newsletter to get our top political stories, exclusive guest interviews and more to your email inbox.

Subscribe to the KTAR Eyes on Education newsletter to get our top education stories, exclusive guest interviews and more to your email inbox.

Related

Matt Orlando wins Chandler Mayor’s race as challenger Jeff Weninger concedesGov. Katie Hobbs and Andy Biggs must pick lieutenant governors ahead of Election DaySolange Whitehead takes early lead in Scottsdale City Council primaryElection stunner? Teri Ann Hourihan leading Hugh Lytle in No Labels Party governor raceJay Feely and potential CD-1 opponent Amish Shah have history with the New York JetsIncumbents getting swept in Gilbert Town Council election