A Republican candidate debate on PBS devolved into overlapping jabbering, as Treasurer Kim Lee and disgraced State School Superintendent Tom Horne attacked each other.
Both miscreants are running in a Republican primary against each other. The clear choice for voters was “no.”
Horne, looking emaciated like a man with one foot in the grave, spouted MAGA taglines about DEI, critical race theory, boys in girls’ bathrooms and “left-wing crazies.”
Arizona’s Auditor General blasted Horne on May 12 for his weak controls, questionable spending, and internal management failures in the state ESA school voucher program. Fully 34% of transactions had issues such as misuse, overpayment and unallowable expenses.
Yee and Horne Tear Into Each Other
Arizona Republicans watching the debate saw a political knife fight. By the end, PBS moderator Ted Simons joked he had “run out of popcorn.”
Yee opened by declaring Horne deserved to be fired.
“In business, if you hire someone for the job and they don’t meet performance standards, you fire them,” Yee said. “It’s complete chaos. I would bring the competence to that position.”
She repeatedly hammered Horne for his proven bungling of Arizona’s ESA voucher program, accusing him of overseeing “complete mismanagement” and of using taxpayer money to promote himself in TV ads.
“When the legislature gives the Superintendent administrative funding, he used that for ads that promoted himself with those taxpayer dollars,” Yee charged.
Venom from Horne
Horne, with a face like a skull, fired back with equal venom, portraying Yee as clueless about education and reckless on ESA spending.
“You’ve got someone challenging an incumbent who’s completely ignorant about what’s going on in the schools,” Horne snapped after Yee accused him of failing to bring phonics into classrooms.
The debate then descended into a bitter argument over Arizona’s ESA voucher system. Horne cited an anonymous attack website he likely controls, saying Yee argued he lacked the authority to deny questionable purchases.
“If Kim were Superintendent,” Horne said, “she would be granting Rolex watches.”
Yee denied it furiously.
“I would not grant Rolex watches,” she shot back. “Those are not educational expenses, and they should never have been provided for reimbursement.”
“The current state Superintendent does not have a system of management,” she said. “You can see that by every headline you read.”
Personal attacks erupt
The two Republicans then began unloading personal attacks rarely heard in statewide debates.
Horne accused Yee of secretly supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Horne claimed that she served on a committee that was pro-DEI,” Horne declared.
Yee detonated. “I sent a cease and desist letter because this is a lie,” she said. “He is not only lying, but he has a long record of lying.”
Then came the political flamethrower.
Yee brought up Horne’s long-ago extramarital scandal and FBI investigation from his tenure as attorney general.
“He had the mistress, numerous rendezvous on your lunch hour, and you crashed a car, and you fled,” Yee charged.
She followed that by accusing Horne of misusing taxpayer money while serving as attorney general. “He also had an FBI record of using taxpayer resources in the AG’s office to advance his campaign,” Yee said.
Horne exploded. “All you know how to do is make personal attacks,” he shouted. “You don’t have the intellect to deal with education issues.”
At multiple points, the debate became nearly impossible to control, with both candidates talking over each other while moderator Ted Simons attempted to restore order.
Policy and public issues disappeared beneath the mudslinging.
Horne called Yee dishonest and kept harping that “Under my opponent, it would be dishonest because she has said there’s no authority to deny illegitimate purchases,” Horne said.
Yee portrayed Horne as an incompetent administrator presiding over dysfunction. “There is complete chaos within the Department of Education under his leadership,” she said.
By the closing statements, neither candidate appeared interested in unifying Republicans. Horne doubled down on culture-war catchphrases, while Yee framed the race as a referendum on Horne himself.
“In business, if you hire someone who doesn’t meet performance standards, you fire them,” Yee concluded. “Tom Horne has had his time. Now it’s time for results.”
The debate made one thing painfully clear: Arizona Republicans are headed into a scorched-earth primary where the accusations are only getting uglier.
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