John Huppenthal is the current
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
John Huppenthal is the current
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
Superintendent of Public Instruction.
His political career includes serving as City Councilman, State Representative, and
State SenatorA state senator is a member of a state's Senate, the upper house in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a legislator in Nebraska's one house State Legislature.There are typically fewer state senators than there are members of a state's lower house...
. Huppenthal was also a Senior Planning Analyst for
Salt River ProjectThe Salt River Project is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association, a...
.
Personal
Huppenthal was born in
Michigan City, IndianaMichigan City's origins date to 1830, when the land for the city was first purchased by Isaac C. Elston. Elston Middle School, formerly Elston High School, located at 317 Detroit St., is named after the founder....
and moved with his family to
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
during childhood. He graduated from
Salpointe Catholic High SchoolSalpointe Catholic High School is a co-ed Catholic high school in Tucson, Arizona, run by the Carmelite Order. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.-Founding and early development:...
in Tucson. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from
Northern Arizona UniversityNorthern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...
. He then obtained a Masters of Business Administration from
Arizona State UniversityArizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
.
Chandler City Council (1984–1992)
Huppenthal was elected to the Chandler City Council in 1984. He served two four-year terms as City Councilman.
During this time
Chandler-Demographics:As of the Census of 2010, there were 236,123 people, 86,924 households, and 60,212 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 73.3% White, 4.8% Black or African American, 1.5% Native American, 8.2% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 21.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 8.3%...
grew from 35,000 residents to over 100,000. In 1984, 13% of Chandler citizens rated Chandler city government as excellent. By February 2006, that rating had risen to 47% (Chandler Public Relations), the highest excellence rating of any city of 50,000 residents or larger in Arizona.
Arizona State Senate (1992–2000)
Huppenthal was first elected State Senator in 1992. In the
primary electionA primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
and his first legislative race, Huppenthal faced two opponents. One was Jerry Brooks, a former Mayor of Chandler and the other was
Don GoldwaterDonald H. "Don" Goldwater is an Arizona Republican Party activist, and the nephew of the late U.S. senator and U.S. presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater....
, the nephew of
Barry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
. Huppenthal won with nearly 50% of the vote in a three-way race. As a state senator from District 6, he was chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
Arizona House of Representatives (2000–2004)
In 2000, Huppenthal was elected State Representative, serving from 2000 to 2004.
Arizona State Senate (2005–2010)
In 2004, Huppenthal announced he would seek to regain his State Senate seat. Huppenthal was supported by U.S. Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, who issued a statement praising Huppenthal as a "straight shooter" and a "friend of the taxpayer". Huppenthal won by a 60% to 40% margin.
In 2005, an effort to
recallA recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
John Huppenthal was launched but failed to obtain enough signatures to make it to the ballot. The recall effort claimed he was out-of-touch with District 20 voters.
Huppenthal has sponsored numerous pieces of legislation in his legislative career.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction (2011–present)
Huppenthal was elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction in the
2010 state electionThe 2010 Arizona state elections were held on November 2, 2010, with primaries on August 24, 2010. These include gubernatorial and both sides of Congress. A special election was also on May 18 for Proposition 100.- United States Senate:...
.
In June 2010, Huppenthal was interviewed by a high-school student, Keith Wagner. A cut of the interview video was posted online that cast Huppenthal in a negative light. The cut showed him apparently contradicting himself and then walking out of the interview. It later emerged that the video inaccurately portrayed the interview and that Huppenthal did return. Wagner confirmed that the posted cut was inaccurate, and further stated that he was "irked" that his video was used for political means. The cut funding that Wagner asks about, and which appears to bewilder Huppenthal, was actually not part of the bill that Wagner references in his questioning.
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