Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

	Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$85,000
2024 FY Budget:	$8,114,078,000
Term limits:	Two consecutive terms
	Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Arizona Constitution, Article 5, Section 1 (Version 2)
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder
	Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Thomas C. Horne; Republican Party; Assumed office: January 2, 2023
	Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
	Other Arizona Executive Offices
	Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Superintendent of Public Instruction• Auditor• Agriculture Director • Insurance and Financial Institutions Director• Lands Commissioner• Labor Director• Corporation Commission• State Mine Inspector

The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected state executive position in the Arizona state government. The superintendent oversees the state of Arizona's public school system and directs the state's Department of Education.

Current officeholder

The current Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is Thomas C. Horne (R). Horne assumed office in 2023.

Authority

The office of superintendent is established by the Arizona Constitution as part of the state's executive department.

Arizona Constitution, Article 5, Section 1 (Version 2)

The executive department shall consist of the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction...

Qualifications

The Arizona Constitution requires all of the officers in the state's executive department, including the superintendent of public instruction, to be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for 10 years, and an Arizona resident for five years.

Arizona Constitution, Article 5, Section 2

No person shall be eligible to any of the offices mentioned in section 1 of this article except a person of the age of not less than twenty-five years, who shall have been for ten years next preceding his election a citizen of the United States, and for five years next preceding his election a citizen of Arizona.

Elections

Arizonans elect their superintendent of public instruction in midterm election years (2006, 2010, 2014, etc.) for a term of four years. If no candidate receives a majority (over 50 percent) of the votes, a runoff election is held between the two candidates that received the largest amount. If the two candidates in the runoff receive an equal number of votes, the state legislature chooses a winner. The winner assumes office on the first Monday of January after his or her election.^[1]

Arizona Constitution, Article 5, Section 1 (Version 2)

A. The executive department shall consist of the governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold office for a term of four years beginning on the first Monday of January, 1971 next after the regular general election in 1970.

B. B. The person having a majority of the votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected. If no person receives a majority of the votes cast for the office, a second election shall be held as prescribed by law between the persons receiving the highest and second highest number of votes cast for the office. The person receiving the highest number of votes at the second election for the office is elected, but if the two persons have an equal number of votes for the office, the two houses of the legislature at its next regular session shall elect forthwith, by joint ballot, one of such persons for said office.

2022

See also: Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2022

General election

General election for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

Thomas C. Horne defeated incumbent Kathy Hoffman and Patrick Finerd in the general election for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Thomas C. Horne (R)	50.2	1,255,977
	Kathy Hoffman (D)	49.8	1,247,010
	Patrick Finerd (R) (Write-in)	0.0	213

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,503,200
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Sheila Reid-Shaver (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

Incumbent Kathy Hoffman advanced from the Democratic primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kathy Hoffman	100.0	564,099

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 564,099
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

Thomas C. Horne defeated Shiry Sapir, Michelle Udall, Kara Woods, and Tiffany Asch in the Republican primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 2, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Thomas C. Horne	41.9	321,208
	Shiry Sapir	33.5	256,286
	Michelle Udall	24.6	188,401
	Kara Woods (Write-in)	0.0	201
	Tiffany Asch (Write-in)	0.0	57

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 766,153
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Michael Trevillion (R)

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction

Sheila Reid-Shaver advanced from the Libertarian primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheila Reid-Shaver (Write-in)	100.0	557

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 557
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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