Yee, Ruiz continue early leads in Arizona superintendent race
Image by/Kimberly Yee
Kimberly Yee, Arizona State Treasurer and former legislative leader on education policy, is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Submitted photo/Teresa Leyba Ruiz
Dr. Theresa Leyba Ruiz, Democratic candidate for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, is a former president of Glendale Community College and longtime educator with more than 35 years of experience in Arizona education.
Submitted photo/Arizona Department of Education
Tom Horne, the Republican incumbent for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, previously served as state superintendent from 2003 to 2011 and as Arizona attorney general.
Submitted photo/Brett Newby
Brett Newby, a Democratic candidate for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, is an educator and board-certified behavior analyst.
Posted
The Issue:
Arizona voters selected nominees who will compete to oversee the state's public education system during a period of continued debate over school choice, teacher shortages and student achievement.
The Stats:
The superintendent oversees the Arizona Department of Education, administers billions of dollars in education funding and manages statewide education programs serving Arizona's public schools.
The Solution:
The nominees offered competing visions on public school funding, ESAs, academic performance, school safety and teacher recruitment ahead of the November general election.
Arizona voters have selected the major-party nominees for superintendent of public instruction, setting up a November contest that will determine who oversees the state's public school system for the next four years.
Unofficial results from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office showed Republican voters behind Kimberly Yee over Tom Horne in early results, while Democratic voters were giving the edge to Teresa Ruiz over Brett Newby. The winners would advance to the Nov. 3 general election.
The superintendent of public instruction oversees the Arizona Department of Education, administers state and federal education funding, oversees teacher certification and serves as the state's top elected education official.
Since many education policies are established by the Legislature and State Board of Education, the office plays a significant role in implementing those policies and shaping statewide education priorities.
With 96% of precincts reporting, unofficial results from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office showed:
Republican primary
Kmiberly Yee — 53% (271,620 Votes)
Tom Horne — 47% (240,624 Votes)
Democratic primary
Teresa Ruiz— 79.4% (337,757 Votes )
Brett Newby — 20.6% (87,775 Votes)
Republican race
The Republican primary featured incumbent Tom Horne seeking a second consecutive term against Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee.
The campaign focused heavily on school choice, ESAs, academic achievement, school safety and the direction of Arizona's public education system.
Democratic race
Democratic voters chose between Teresa Leyba Ruiz and Brett Newby.
Both candidates campaigned on increasing support for public schools, improving teacher recruitment and retention, addressing student achievement and expanding resources for educators, though they differed on their approaches to school choice and state education policy.
"I have spent 35 years serving Arizona students and educators—not planning the next step in a political career but doing the work of educating younger generations," Ruiz said in a release. "That experience is exactly what this moment demands, and it is what I will bring to the Arizona Department of Education."
What’s next?
The superintendent's race comes as Arizona continues to debate several major education issues, including:
The winners will campaign through the fall before the Nov. 3 general election. Results remain unofficial until canvassed by state and county election officials.
Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
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