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Diane Douglas
Diane Douglas (Republican Party) was the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Douglas assumed office on January 5, 2015. Douglas left office on January 1, 2019.
Douglas (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Douglas lost in the Republican primary on August 28, 2018.
Immediately after her election, Douglas faced a recall effort by voters. The petition failed, according to a statement by the recall campaign.[1][2] To learn more about this effort, click here.
Biography
Douglas worked in accounting and financial analysis for several firms prior to her election. She has also been a panelist at conferences sponsored by AZ Right to Life and Americans for Prosperity.[3]
Education
- A.A., business, Somerset County College
- B.A., business and marketing, Rutgers University[3]
Political career
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction (2015-2019)
Douglas was first elected as the Arizona superintendent of public instruction in 2014. She was sworn into office on January 5, 2015, succeeding single-term Superintendent John Huppenthal (R), who was ousted by Douglas in the Republican primary on August 26, 2014. Douglas lost in the Republican primary on August 28, 2018.
Recall effort
Anthony Espinoza, an elementary school teacher in Phoenix, first broached the subject of recalling Douglas by creating a Recall Diane Douglas Facebook page in November 2014. Espinoza later created a website for the recall effort, which made the following arguments for removing Douglas from office:
| “ |
Diane Douglas has no experience teaching a classroom of children or enacting public policy. She ran a shadow campaign, only speaking to friendly conservative media and failing to show up to 16 public events. After being declared the winner, she has yet to discuss what plans she has to improve education in the state of Arizona aside from attempting to do something that she has no legal authority to accomplish: repealing Common Core. It is for the good of the students, parents, teachers and schools of Arizona that we must work together to Recall Diane Douglas! [4] |
” |
| —Recall Diane Douglas, (2014) | ||
The Coalition to Recall Diane Douglas filed political committee paperwork with the Arizona secretary of state on November 24, 2014.[6] The state prohibits circulation of recall petitions until six months after an official takes office, which means that the recall effort could not start until July 2015.[7]
On December 1, 2015, the Arizona Republic reported that the coalition had not yet reached 100,000 signatures by the time of the article's publication, far short of the 366,000 needed by December 30, 2015. This was according to a press release issued by the coalition. At the same time, the organization said more than 1,000 volunteers in the state were working to collect signatures at the time of the announcement.[8][9][10]
Nevertheless, the coalition remained optimistic and insisted that its members would continue counting and collecting signatures until the very last possible day. After December 30, 2015, the Arizona secretary of state's office had a week to count the signatures. Then county officials had 60 days to validate the signatures.[11][12]
However, Max Goshert, the leader of the campaign to recall Douglas, said on December 30 that the effort had failed. He reported that the campaign had collected 40,000 signatures.[2]
Disputes with the Arizona School Board
Disputes between Superintendent Douglas and the Arizona Board of Education began in February 2015, when Douglas attempted to fire two board employees. After Gov. Doug Ducey (R) said that Douglas did not have the authority to fire the employees, the board voted to restore the employees to their positions. Douglas was the lone dissenting vote.[13][14] In response, she filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education, claiming that the Board's actions were against the law.[15] The lawsuit was later dismissed in July by Judge Patricia Starr.[16]
Tensions continued and the situation escalated in August 2015, when Douglas claimed that Board President Greg Miller physically assaulted her during a board meeting. After the meeting, Douglas filed a formal complaint with the Department of Safety. According to reports, Miller grabbed Douglas's microphone when she began speaking out of turn during a public board meeting. Miller claims that he was merely trying to move her microphone and that he did not touch her.[17]
After that, the Board of Education unanimously decided to file two lawsuits of its own against Douglas. The first suit is over Douglas' refusal to grant board investigators remote access to teacher files. The second lawsuit was authorized in the event that Douglas refuses to take down the board's old website and redirect traffic to their new website. There is also ongoing speculation that a third lawsuit could be filed over the hiring of a new board of education staff member to replace three outgoing board employees.[18][19]
For a more detailed account of the disputes between Douglas and the Board, including a timeline of events, please click here.
Dispute with Gov. Doug Ducey
Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey (R) debated the proposed firing of two employees of the Arizona Board of Education in February 2015. Douglas, who campaigned on eliminating Common Core standards from the state curriculum, sought to remove board employees Christine Thompson and Sabrina Vazquez on February 11. A letter sent by department legal counsel Stephen Tully indicated that the duo were fired for not reporting to Douglas rather than their efforts to stop the repeal of new standards.[13] Thompson and Vazquez were locked out of their offices until Gov. Ducey intervened on February 12, arguing that Douglas did not have power to remove board employees. The board also voted to restore Thompson and Vazquez on February 13, with Douglas as the only dissenting vote.[14]
In response, Douglas countered that Ducey should not have intervened in the matter in a press release with the title, "Arizona Superintendent of Public Schools Diane Douglas Did Not See Doug Ducey's Name on the Ballot for State Superintendent." State Sen. Kelli Ward (R) has proposed a change to state law that would leave decisions on board personnel to other board members rather than the superintendent.[14][20] One of the officials in question, Executive Director of the Board of Education Christine Thompson, announced that she would step down, effective November 6, 2015.[19]
Board member, Peoria Unified School District
Before she was elected as the state superintendent, Douglas served as a member of the Governing Board of the Peoria Unified School District.[21]
Recall effort
Douglas was the subject of a recall attempt over her opposition to a one-cent sales tax increase intended to benefit education and healthcare.[21]
About the office
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.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Kathy Hoffman defeated Frank Riggs in the general election for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kathy Hoffman (D)  | 51.6 | 1,185,457 |
 | Frank Riggs (R) | 48.4 | 1,113,781 | |
| Total votes: 2,299,238 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Kathy Hoffman defeated David Schapira in the Democratic primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathy Hoffman | 52.3 | 254,566 |
 | David Schapira | 47.7 | 232,419 | |
| Total votes: 486,985 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
Frank Riggs defeated Robert Branch, incumbent Diane Douglas, Tracy Livingston, and Jonathan Gelbart in the Republican primary for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Frank Riggs | 21.8 | 124,872 |
 | Robert Branch | 21.8 | 124,623 | |
 | Diane Douglas | 21.2 | 121,452 | |
| Tracy Livingston | 20.2 | 115,778 | ||
| Jonathan Gelbart | 14.9 | 85,511 | ||
| Total votes: 572,236 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
Douglas ran for election to the office of Arizona superintendent of public instruction. Douglas defeated incumbent John Huppenthal in the Republican primary election on August 26, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
Primary election
| Arizona Superintendent of Public instruction, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Diane Douglas |
58.4% | 290,719 | ||
| John Huppenthal Incumbent | 41.6% | 206,744 | ||
| Total Votes | 497,463 | |||
| Election results via Arizona Secretary of State. | ||||
General election
| Superintendent of Arizona, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Diane Douglas |
50.5% | 740,273 | |
| Democratic | David Garcia | 49.5% | 724,239 | |
| Total Votes | 1,464,512 | |||
| Election results via Arizona Secretary of State | ||||
Polls
| Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Primary | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Diane Douglas | John Huppenthal* | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Harper Polling August 19-20, 2014 | 39% | 34% | 28% | +/-3.44 | 812 | ||||||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing July 14, 2014 | 35% | 25% | 40% | +/-4.0 | 691 | ||||||||||||||
| Magellan Strategies July 9-10, 2014 | 32% | 25% | 43% | +/-4.02 | 593 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 35.33% | 28% | 37% | +/-3.82 | 698.67 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign themes
2014
Douglas' campaign website listed the following themes for the 2014 race:
| “ |
I began studying the American education system and the federal government's ever increasing intrusion into our local control since the early 1990s. I did it on my own, for my own edification rather than through a college of "education" in order to add letters after my name. I've studied the history of our education system; the intent of our Founding Fathers for public education; curriculum trends and fads; lawsuits that have changed our education system by judicial fiat and so much more. I went wherever the trail led. So much of what I studied "in theory", I then experienced in practice while serving on the Peoria Unified School District governing board. The two most important duties we have, as a society, are protect our country, borders and sovereignty; and to educate our children to perpetuate the liberty with which we have been blessed as a nation. The prior is the proper, constitutional role of the federal government, the latter is not. Currently the federal government has its roles reversed. While I have been blessed with various opportunities the single most important "job" I have held in my adult life was being a full time mother; anything I have ever done or achieved pales in comparison. [4] |
” |
| —Diane Douglas' campaign website, (2014) | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
| Arizona | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Recall Diane Douglas, "Why Recall Douglas?" accessed November 18, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Arizona Republic, "Chairman: Effort to recall Superintendent Diane Douglas fails," December 30, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Elect Diane Douglas, "My Bio," accessed November 25, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Recall Diane Douglas, "Why Recall Douglas?" accessed November 18, 2014
- ↑ 12 News & The Arizona Republic, "Give Diane Douglas a chance, people," November 24, 2014
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Schools chief Diane Douglas already faces recall threats," November 17, 2014
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Diane Douglas recall bid way short of signatures," accessed December 28, 2015
- ↑ Alexandra Olgin, 91.5 KJZZ, "Group to recall Diane Douglas: We have 100,000 signatures so far," October 8, 2015
- ↑ Howard Fischer, Verde Independent, "UPDATE: Diane Douglas recall officially underway," September 1, 2015
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Letter: Since recall story, our phone’s ringing nonstop," accessed December 28, 2015
- ↑ East Valley Tribune, "Deadline nears for superintendent recall effort," accessed December 28, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 12 News & The Arizona Republic, "Fired Arizona Department of Education leaders return to work," February 18, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 12 News & The Arizona Republic, "Proposed bill could settle Douglas-Ducey spat," February 20, 2015
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, Cathryn Creno, "Douglas - Arizona Board of Education fight goes to court," accessed Sept. 22, 2015
- ↑ AZ Family, Bob Christie and Paul Davenport, "Judge grants request to halt suit against Board of Education," accessed Sept. 22, 2015
- ↑ Fox 10, Phoneix, Nicole Garcia, "Arizona Board of Education votes to sue Diane Douglas," accessed Sept. 22, 2015
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star, Howard Fischer, "Arizona Board of Education votes to sue Diane Douglas," accessed Sept. 22, 2015
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 AZ Central, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, "State Board of Education executive quits amid feud with Diane Douglas," accessed Sept. 22, 2015
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star, "AZ schools superintendent not ready for prime time," February 14, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 AZCentral.com, "Peoria Unified parents mount recall campaign against Douglas," April 22, 2010
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Huppenthal (R) |
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction 2015-2019 |
Succeeded by Kathy Hoffman (D) |
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State of Arizona Phoenix (capital) |
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