PHOENIX — Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee officially launched her campaign today to become the state’s next superintendent of public instruction, setting up a Republican primary clash with incumbent Tom Horne and highlighting frustrations over school choice management and stagnant academic outcomes in rural communities. 

Flanked by state legislators, conservative advocates and families on the Capitol lawn, Yee cast herself as a reformer intent on restoring what she described as a department of education that has “missed the mark.”

“Sadly, and for far too long, the leadership at the Arizona Department of Education has missed the mark, and our children and teachers are paying the price,” Yee said. “Our academic performance is still dismal … and our kids are not graduating with the basics.” 

Party rift over school choice   

Yee’s announcement highlighted deepening divisions within Arizona’s Republican Party over the direction of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA, program. Designed to let families use public funds for private school tuition, homeschooling or educational expenses, the ESA program has ballooned to serve more than 86,000 students this year with a projected taxpayer cost of over $700 million, according to the ADE.

“There is full government overreach coming out of the department of education,” Yee said. “[Horne] is determining how to administer the ESA program outside of his executive authorities. That goes to the legislative branch.” 

Her criticism was echoed by state Sen. Jake Hoffman, Republican of Queen Creek, and conservative activist Merissa Hamilton, a former supporter of Horne’s who now backs Yee. 

“Parents are frustrated,” Hamilton said. “Kimberly represents a new path, one where families actually have a seat at the table again. Tom Horne promised to protect ESA families, and instead he’s been acting more like a bureaucrat than a champion of school choice.” 

Hamilton accused Horne’s office of ignoring family input and allowing red tape to interfere with educational access. 

“He hasn’t partnered with the parents like he said he would,” she said. “Instead, his administration is focused on appeasing the system. They’re more worried about defending the institution than empowering students.” 

“Tom Horne has turned the ESA program into a bureaucratic nightmare,” said Hoffman. “He’s taken a sledgehammer to the freedoms parents fought for, and he’s doing it under the guise of fraud prevention when the actual rate of abuse is negligible.” 

Horne fires back: ‘I’m protecting the program’   

In an interview with InMaricopa, Horne defended his approach to ESA oversight as a necessary safeguard for taxpayer dollars, rejecting Yee’s and Hamilton’s claims as politically driven. 

“[Yee] said I have no authority to limit anything. That’s crazy,” Horne said. “I’ve established two principles: Spending must be for a legitimate educational purpose and must reflect reasonable market prices.” 

The superintendent pointed to denied reimbursement requests for items like a $5,000 Rolex, a $24,000 golf simulator and a vasectomy testing kit as examples of why limits are needed. 

“If I had approved those, it would’ve hit the news and jeopardized the program,” he said. “Because I believe in parental choice, I want to protect it, not destroy it with scandal.” 

Horne said every one of his office’s denials that had been appealed had been upheld by administrative judges.  

“It’s judicially established that I do have that authority,” he said. 

Maricopa schools feel the impact   

The debate over school vouchers is particularly relevant in Maricopa, where both public education performance and ESA-driven funding shifts are pressing concerns. 

As of the 2024–25 school year, 943 students in Maricopa participate in the ESA program, according to state data. Of those, 82% had never been enrolled in the Maricopa Unified School District. That shift has resulted in an estimated $9.2 million reduction in state funding to MUSD, $7.5 million of which represents new costs to the state, according to an annual report on the impact of the ESA program on state education funding.  

Another point of contention for Yee is student outcomes. Maricopa sits below the state average in terms of graduation. Last year, Maricopa public schools reported a four-year graduation rate of 74% compared to the statewide average of 76%, according to state education data. There is an even greater disparity among Maricopa’s economically disadvantaged and Latino students, who make up the majority of the district. 

Yee said rural districts like Maricopa need more choices and fewer hurdles. 

“These communities are being left behind while the department picks winners and losers,” she said at her campaign announcement. 

Horne pushed back, pointing to academic initiatives his office launched that he says are benefiting rural Arizona. 

“This is what I’m all about,” Horne said. “I’ve personally led 15 initiatives aimed at academic improvement. We’ve sent expert teams into underperforming schools, including those in rural areas.” 

He cited a department-led mentoring effort in one high-poverty elementary school that raised math scores by 27% in a year.  

“We had 70% of the [lowest performing] schools move out of that category after our intervention,” he said. 

Still, some rural parents remain skeptical. Hamilton said families in Pinal County feel disconnected from the decisions being made in Phoenix. 

“There’s no visibility, no follow-through,” she said. “I get messages every week from parents in rural districts who say their ESA questions aren’t answered or they’ve been denied support without explanation.” 

Election season begins early

EZAZ, the conservative group Hamilton leads, once supported Horne’s campaign. They collected signatures for his campaign. News that Hamilton appeared at today’s Yee event came as a surprise to Horne.  

“I thought we had a good relationship,” Horne said. “I even went door-to-door for [EZAZ and Hamilton]. But I guess she’s with Kimberly now.” 

Yee joins a growing slate of candidates backed by Hoffman and the Arizona Freedom Caucus, which has endorsed several primary challengers to sitting Republicans. Horne, the former Arizona attorney general who returned to the superintendent’s office in 2023 after serving from 2003 to 2011, has already filed for reelection and says he has nearly completed his petition signatures. 

He is 80 years old.

The Republican primary election for superintendent of public instruction is scheduled for Aug. 4, 2026. The general election will take place Nov. 3, 2026.