Hull, Johnson put higher education on back burner
Paul Johnson omitted higher education from his platform during a failed attempt to overtake the governor's seat, and victorious Gov. Jane Hull focused on K-8 education, their campaign managers said Monday.
"We did not lay out a specific plan for higher education," said Susan Markham, campaign manager for Johnson, a Democrat. "I'm not sure why."
The Johnson campaign, however, did work on a "vote-by-mail" campaign to attract people under 25, Markham said.
"In the past, we haven't had a very good turnout at all (from college students)," she said.
Mike Hull, the Republican governor's son and campaign manager, said Jane Hull had her sights set on children's education from the start.
"She said K-8 was going to be her primary focus," Mike Hull said Monday. "You need to fix the lower education right now because that seems to be the biggest problem."
In addition to the governor's concern for children, she increased spending on Arizona's three state universities by $50 million, he said.
Mike Hull also said the governor has visited the University of Arizona often, despite her absence during a scheduled forum with Johnson and Libertarian candidate Kat Gallant last month. Jane Hull was attacked at the forum for not keeping her promise to send a surrogate, leaving Johnson and Gallant alone to discuss state issues.
"She has been to the university a number of times meeting with (UA President) Peter (Likins)," he said. "She's been out and about. Her TV commercials were filmed there."
Hull's staff has repeatedly maintained that she could not have spent all her time on the campaign trail.
"She can't campaign all the time, she has to run the state," Mike Hull said.
David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.
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