Arizona Teachers Get Support From Ken Bennett In Ducey Challenge

PHOENIX, AZ – Ken Bennett surprised the state over the weekend by announcing that he would challenge Gov. Ducey in a primary. He has just more than one month to get the 6,300 signatures that he needs to get on the ballot.

This will be Bennett's second run for governor. In 2014, he finished fourth in a six-candidate race, losing to Ducey by double digits.

This time, though, he thinks Ducey is vulnerable because of his stance on teacher pay. As Patch has reported, Ducey had originally stood by an offer of a 1 percent hike while teachers were asking for 20 percent – a number that would still leave them below the national average.

While Ducey eventually offered 19 percent over three years, many have expressed skepticism about the plan's sustainability. Teachers now plan to walkout across the state on Thursday. (Get Phoenix Patch's daily newsletter and real-time news alerts. Or, find your local Patch here and subscribe).

Bennett, a former president of the state Board of Education, is one of those skeptics. He thinks that teachers deserve more money and a realistic way to fund those raises. One way, he says, is to end exemptions to state income taxes – exemptions that the state estimates costs Arizona $12 billion each year.

Bennett started his career on the Prescott City Council in 1985, eventually getting name to the state's Board of Education where he became the board's president. In 1998, he was elected to the state Senate, eventually becoming the body's president.

In 2009, Jan Brewer – then the Secretary of State – became governor, succeeding Janet Napolitano, who took a job in the Obama Administration. Brewer named Bennett to take her place.

He won his own term the following year.

Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.

Photo via Ken Bennett.