This is a sad day for Arizona children and schools.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, a person who worked everyday to make education and life better for the Grand Canyon state’s children and teachers lost an extremely close race for a second term as the state’s lead educator.
She lost to Tom Horne, a person, that as this writer and others on this Blog repeatedly noted, that defended a sex predator working on his campaign, voted to reinstate the teaching certificate of someone that watched porn in the classroom, misled voters when comparing test results of his tenure as Superintendent of Public Instruction to his successor, and has been accused of numerous transgressions by members and officials of both political parties.
In her gracious concession remarks, Superintendent Hoffman wrote:
“After a hard-fought race, we came up short. I want to thank my supporters, volunteers, and staff who stood by me during this election. And I especially want to thank my family for all of their love and support.
Serving as Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction has been among the greatest honors and privileges of my life. I’m proud of the incredible work we did. And I remain more inspired than ever by the amazing students, educators, and schools across our state. Our future is bright because of you.
Lastly, congratulations to Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes for Arizona Secretary of State, Senator Mark Kelly, Yes On 308 and every pro public education school board candidate for their wins. Our state will be in better hands with you all at the helm.”
This is a race that should have been a no brainer for Arizona voters.
While Doug Ducey wanted to risk children’s safety because his science denying base was up in arms on COVID precautions in schools, it was Kathy Hoffman that fought for reality and putting public health first.
When Doug Ducey wanted to give grants to schools that did not follow Coronavirus safety guidelines, it was Kathy Hoffman that arranged through Donors Choose, opportunities for teachers to get free money to buy essential supplies.
It was Kathy Hoffman that helped create the first teacher residency program.
It was Kathy Hoffman that played a major role in securing funds to expand the number of counselors and social workers in schools.
It was Kathy Hoffman, who unlike her opponent, ran a clean elections campaign, and, also unlike her opponent, served as a role model and person of character to Arizona’s children and educators.
What pray tell, is wrong with a record like that?
As this writer and Blue Meanie mentioned in articles the last two days, the media failed Kathy Hoffman by not giving proper attention to her race. E.J. Montini, in his latest column, said “the media did not do its homework.”
Some media anyway. Blog for Arizona has repeatedly written articles citing Hoffmans time as Superintendent while pointing out Tom Horne’s numerous deficiencies.
The Arizona Democratic Party could have helped Kathy Hoffman more as well. How many press releases did the Party send out in support of either Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes, and Mark Kelly? Compare that to the number they sent out in support of Kathy Hoffman, Kris Mayes, Martin Quezada, Sandra Kennedy, and Lauren Kuby. Readers will find a marked disparity.
If the party had worked just as hard for the other statewide candidates as they did for the three statewide victors on November 8, 2022, the results would have turned out better.
Hopefully, Superintendent Hoffman is not done with public service.
A person that truly worked for the people, Arizona is better for her time as Superintendent and would be better still if she decides to serve again.
Isn’t she still in the auto recount margin?
She is but she still conceded.
Horne, what a truly odious jerk. Corrupt, and dishonest. His No CRT signs were a disgusting lie. Only two worse would be Huppster and Douglas. Huffman really cared about Arizona school children and serving public school districts. I dont think Horne has one service bone in his body. Grandstanding on racial dog whistles are all that matters to Horne.
So sad.