Democratic primary for schools chief gets mean

Up until now, the Democratic primary race for state superintendent of public instruction had been mostly quiet between candidates Kathy Hoffman and David Schapira.

They agree on issues more than they differ.

But a month away from the Aug. 28 primary, one campaign has gone on the offensive with a wave of personal accusations, tossing out allegations of bullying.

Hoffman, an educator who’s never sought public office before, accused Schapira, a former teacher, education consultant and Tempe councilman, of bullying tactics in a set of news releases and a paid cable TV ad released this week.

One of the releases focuses on the recording Hoffman took of a phone conversation between her and Schapira in May 2017 in which Hoffman accused Schapira of trying to intimidate her after one of her staffers published a Facebook post Schapira perceived as an attack against him.

Schapira in the recording demands an apology for what he called an “ad hominem attack” and negative campaigning against him and mentions personal background research someone gave him on Hoffman and her family.

He later said he would never use such information.

Another release sent out Monday announced an MSNBC ad paid for by the Hoffman campaign showing “a pattern of bullying, verbal harassment and professional incompetence” by Schapira, according to the release.

The 30-second ad includes two anonymous women who allegedly worked with Schapira speaking negatively of him; one calls him “a bully.”

Reaction to the TV ad appeared mixed Thursday after it was posted on Hoffman’s campaign Facebook page.

Some people cheered Hoffman’s ad. Others criticized Hoffman for what they described as the ad’s negative tone.

Hoffman said she put out the releases and made public the private conversation she and Schapira had more than a year ago because she believes “this is a pattern of behavior and this is how he treats educators.”

After Schapira was asked for a response to the allegations, his campaign manager Kaylan Fodor released an emailed statement.

“It’s unfortunate that she would rather use her time and Clean Elections funds to throw anonymous, salacious accusations than to talk about ways to make Arizona schools better,” Fodor said.

Fodor in the statement said Hoffman’s “choice to pursue negative campaign tactics violates a commitment between David and Kathy to focus on the issues and remain positive during this primary.

“Although (Hoffman) has reneged on our mutual pledge to keep this campaign positive and focused on education policy, our campaign is still committed to discussing the issues affecting our public schools and our vision for a better future for Arizona students,” Fodor said.

Felecia Rotellini, chairwoman of the Arizona Democratic Party, released a statement about the ad.

“I am not a fan of negative campaigning and personal attacks,” she said in a statement. “I encourage our candidates to focus on Arizona values, protecting public education and how their vision is best for Arizona.”

Hoffman and Schapira are running on near-identical platforms with little separation on key education issues.

Both support the #RedForEd teacher activism movement and the #InvestInEd education tax measure.

Both have framed their campaign around the core issues of education funding and addressing Arizona’s teacher crisis. Both oppose Proposition 305, the measure asking voters to approve an expansion of the Empowerment Scholarship Account school voucher program. Both say charter schools need more financial oversight.

Theuntil now tame Democratic primary race had contrasted the crowded five-candidate Republican race in which candidates Diane Douglas, Bob Branch, Jonathan Gelbart, Tracy Livingston and Frank Riggs have at times aggressively sought to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Schapira and Hoffman are scheduled to debate each other live at 7 p.m. Thursday, hosted by azcentral and The Arizona Republic. It will be streamed on az central.com and Facebook.