We won't have a spot on one of those lists, however. Tom Horne, the Republican superintendent of public instruction who is running for reelection next year, has personally barred us from his campaign email list because he dislikes our coverage.
"You’re the only news source in the state that I will not waste time on," Horne wrote New Times in an email.
Horne's reelection race will be one of the more interesting in the state. Four years ago, Horne completed a stunning political comeback to unseat Democratic incumbent Kathy Hoffman. But now, before Horne faces whichever Democratic challenger arises in the general election, he is being attacked from the right by current state treasurer Kimberly Yee. The leader of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, recruited Yee to take on Horne, who at least has had the temerity to suggest that there should be some safeguards on how parents spend their taxpayer-funded Empowerment Scholarship Account money.
Before that race heats up, New Times sought to secure a spot on Horne's campaign mailing list. That exchange began cordially enough. Horne's personal email is listed among the contact information on his campaign financial reports, so New Times reached out Tuesday with a simple request. "Hi, could you please add me to whatever media email list you use for campaign press releases? Thank you," a New Times reporter wrote.
Horne's initial response was both courteous and, given his 80 years of age, amusing: "Sure. Please give me your email address."
After New Times furnished Horne with the email address, which includes a newtimes.com domain, the correspondence took a turn.
"Now that I know that you’re from new times I’m a little bit reluctant," Horne wrote, sic throughout. "New times ran a couple of stories About me that we’re basically character attacks with no truth, that were really just fantasies of the writer. So I stopped answering their calls."
New Times asked Horne to clarify if he would be barring us from receiving press releases from his campaign. Horne said that would be "an exaggeration" but said that if New Times "wants anything from me it needs to abandon its wild eyed partisanship and show some journalistic professionalism." Asked again whether that meant Horne would not send us campaign emails, Horne doubled down.
"First answer my question: is the new times willing to abandon its wild eyed Partisanship and show some Journalistic professionalism?" he wrote.
It is certainly true that New Times has covered Horne critically, both in his present role and in the past. Horne has a long and sordid history in Arizona politics, which New Times has covered over the years. That includes the time when Horne committed a hit-and-run while he was being surveilled by federal authorities during a clandestine meet-up with his then-mistress, who is now his wife.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (center) is on the outs with Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman (left), who has recruited a primary challenger for Horne in the GOP primary.
TJ L'Heureux
During his current tenure as state schools chief, the paper has written about his culture war crusade against LGBTQ students — trans students especially — and the Arizona Department of Education's mismanagement of ESA claims. To clear a backlog of claims, Horne instituted a policy of automatically approving claims of less than $2,000, a move that has resulted in the rubber-stamp approval of items like lingerie and diamond rings.
Additionally, a Colorado couple was able to bilk more than $110,000 from the Department of Education by submitting claims for more than 40 children, many of whom don't exist. After Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced guilty pleas for the couple earlier this week, Horne issued a department press release — New Times still receives those — claiming credit for discovering the fraud and referring it for prosecution. The release elided the fact that $110,000 went out the door before the ruse was discovered, and also misspelled Mayes' first name as "Chris."
New Times has also written about Horne when he has taken more sensible positions, such as when he said he didn't want Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showing up at Arizona schools.
The paper's coverage often has an edge, as all good alt-weekly coverage should, but New Times maintains that it is fair and accurate. New Times has covered other Arizona politicians just as adversarially, yet none of them have barred its journalists from receiving campaign emails. New Times reporters received Kari Lake's campaign emails, for instance. On Wednesday, the campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson added New Times to its email list.
Horne, it appears, will not extend that courtesy. "The Campaign social media is under no obligation to do that," he wrote — correctly, if also, given the use of the term "social media," confusingly.
"Many reporters for a newspapers, television, and radio news, have told me I’m the most available politician in Arizona," he wrote. "I always respond to their phone calls and emails, and do every interview they ask of me. I sometimes disagree with what they write. But they show some desire for truth. That is the essence of high journalistic standards."
At this juncture, it's not clear what New Times will be missing. Horne appears to take a rather hands-on approach with his own campaign, listing himself as the campaign's contact on financial disclosures and personally asking for ballot qualification signatures on social media. His campaign website has a slapdash feel to it, with pixelated photos, huge font sizes and few updates since Horne's last run for office in 2022.
New Times still would appreciate a spot on Horne's email list, believing its readers have a legitimate interest in knowing what a candidate for major political office is doing and saying. To that end, New Times offered to hear Horne's concerns about the paper's past coverage of him. Unfortunately, Horne's memory of whatever article so angered him is vague at best.
Asked for details on that story, Horne suggested it was written maybe two years ago. Asked for more contextual information, such as the article's specific subject matter, Horne replied only, "It was about me!" He has not provided further details when asked, such as the name of the reporter who wrote the story in question.
The results of Horne's race will matter to New Times readers, whose tax dollars fund the ballooning ESA program and many of whose children attend underfunded public schools. That's why New Times will be covering it, on Horne's email list or off of it.
Should Horne decide to put away his grudge — or should he remember what led to it in the first place — the paper will be happy to receive his campaign updates.
