{"id":344,"date":"2026-05-13T23:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T23:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=344"},"modified":"2026-05-13T23:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T23:04:09","slug":"arizona-pbs-hosts-first-gop-school-superintendent-debate-after-critical-esa-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=344","title":{"rendered":"Arizona PBS hosts first GOP school superintendent debate after critical ESA audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>PHOENIX \u2014 The Republican candidates for school superintendent will square off in the first of two back-to-back primary debates at 5 p.m. Wednesday on Arizona PBS (Channel 8).<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=342\">Kyrene School District raises teacher salaries, approves stipends<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Superintendent Tom Horne and state Treasurer Kimberly Yee will take part in what&#8217;s billed as &#8220;Candidates in Conversation,&#8221; moderated by Ted Simons.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The debate comes a day after an audit by the Arizona Auditor General&#8217;s office\u00a0issued a scathing review of both Horne and Yee&#8217;s oversight of the state&#8217;s billion-dollar Empowerment Scholarship Account program.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Both Horne and Yee have been advocates of the state&#8217;s universal school voucher program. The state audit&#8217;s findings echoed previous investigations by 12News, which uncovered widespread misuse of ESA funds by tens of thousands of account holders.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The spotlight on the ESA program could grow hotter as the election campaign unfolds. ESA opponents and supporters are gathering signatures for competing ballot initiatives in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Early voting in the primary election starts June 24. The primary election is July 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Before the debate started, Horne and Yee were sparring on social media about policies on diversity, equity and inclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Yee sent Horne a cease-and-desist letter over what she said was a lie by the superintendent about her chairing a DEI committee as a member of the National Association of State Treasurers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In a response, Horne posted an image of Yee&#8217;s committee assignments at NAST, which showed she was a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In a social media post, Yee said she had been a vocal opponent of DEI.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;His background is plagued with scandals, FBI investigations, a high-profile affair, and claims of corruption,&#8221; Yee said. &#8220;By contrast, I&#8217;ve dedicated my public life to serving this state with honesty and integrity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=340\">Years-long construction project at I-10 interchange about to begin<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Horne has acted as the Trump Administration&#8217;s anti-DEI cop, prodding school districts to scrap their programs or else face the loss of federal funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Yee, who is 52, is serving her second four-year term as state treasurer. She is the first Asian-American candidate elected to a statewide executive office. She previously served in the state Legislature.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Horne, who is 81, is in his second tour as superintendent of public instruction. He was first elected to the office in 2002. Horne, a lawyer by training, went on to win election as attorney general in 2010, before losing a bid for re-election in 2014, amid several scandals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Horne&#8217;s campaign has outraised Yee by more than 7 to 1, according to campaign finance data compiled by the Secretary of State. As of the beginning of April, Horne&#8217;s campaign had a cash balance of $805,000 vs. Yee&#8217;s $243,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Turning Point Action, the Turning Point USA arm that promotes and gets out the vote for chosen Republican candidates, has endorsed Yee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Democratic school superintendent candidates Brett Newby and Terry Leyba Ruiz are debating at 6 p.m. Wednesday. That event is sponsored by the\u00a0Arizona Media Association and the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. It will be broadcast on the 12 News streaming channel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Republican candidates are scheduled to appear at a second and final primary debate at 6 p.m. Thursday, also sponsored by the Arizona Media Association and the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. It will be broadcast on the 12 News streaming channel.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong><em>&gt;&gt; Download the\u00a012News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=337\">California teen who grew up homeless earns full ride to Ivy League school after 65 college acceptances<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PHOENIX \u2014 The Republican candidates for school superintendent will square off in the first of two back-to-back primary debates at 5 p.m. Wednesday on Arizona PBS (Channel 8). Read more Kyrene School District raises teacher salaries, approves stipends Superintendent Tom Horne and state Treasurer Kimberly Yee will take part in what&#8217;s billed as &#8220;Candidates in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arizona PBS hosts first GOP school superintendent debate after critical ESA audit - Scottsdale Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arizona PBS hosts first GOP school superintendent debate after critical ESA audit - Scottsdale Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PHOENIX \u2014 The Republican candidates for school superintendent will square off in the first of two back-to-back primary debates at 5 p.m. Wednesday on Arizona PBS (Channel 8). Read more Kyrene School District raises teacher salaries, approves stipends Superintendent Tom Horne and state Treasurer Kimberly Yee will take part in what&#8217;s billed as &#8220;Candidates in [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/?p=344\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scottsdale Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T23:04:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/463b486892ae9c1300d3961c3b6b20e7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"641\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42958d6a44564ad0a4456d34386abf96\"},\"headline\":\"Arizona PBS hosts first GOP school superintendent debate after critical ESA audit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T23:04:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344\"},\"wordCount\":599,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/463b486892ae9c1300d3961c3b6b20e7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scottsdalemovinghub.com\\\/?p=344\",\"name\":\"Arizona PBS hosts first GOP school superintendent debate after critical ESA audit - 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