Kimberly Yee wins GOP primary for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, ousting Tom Horne

Republican challenger Kimberly Yee has won the GOP primary for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, according to a Wednesday evening race call by the Associated Press, ousting incumbent Republican Tom Horne in a bitter race centered on the future of the state’s controversial school voucher program.

Yee, who’ll be termed out as state treasurer after the end of her current term, entered the superintendent’s race with the backing from the state Legislature’s far-right Freedom Caucus, which has criticized Horne as too aggressive in his regulation of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the state’s voucher system.

Horne has been a longtime supporter of the voucher program, which has seen enrollment balloon since 2022, when then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation creating “universal vouchers” to allow any student in Arizona to receive a roughly $7,400 stipend from the state to attend the school of their choice, or to pay for home school expenses.

Since then, enrollment in the ESA program has grown from about 12,000 to roughly 100,000 students, bringing the price tag for vouchers to $1 billion.

Horne has defended his office’s handling of the program, arguing that he’s only tried to ferret out unallowable purchases made with voucher funds that aren’t related to education.

The debate comes amidst reporting by 12 News that found some families used voucher money for extravagant non-education items like jewelry, lingerie and home appliances.

Freedom Caucus Republicans in Arizona have dismissed those reports as a political hit job, and accused Horne of exceeding his legal authority to oversee the program.

Yee will face Democrat Teresa Leyba Ruiz, a former Glendale Community College president who won the Democratic nomination over Brett Newby, in November.

2026 Arizona primary election results

Follow Arizona and Maricopa County results. Associated Press will continue to update returns as data is made available. Get the latest on individual races at elections.kjzz.org.