This year’s state superintendent’s primary is the spendiest in at least two decades.
And it isn’t even close.
Much of that can be fairly described as the Debbie Critchfield effect. The former State Board of Education president has raised nearly $320,000 ahead of Tuesday’s primary. That is at least a sixfold increase from the biggest fundraising haul we’ve seen for a state superintendent’s primary (in 2014, when Democrat Jana Jones was running unopposed, and gearing up for the general election).
Of course, we don’t have final numbers in this year’s primary — so Critchfield’s fundraising figure will only go up from here.
The rest of the fundraising story also deserves a closer look.
- Branden Durst, the former Democratic legislator running a hardline conservative campaign, has collected nearly $68,000 in contributions. This is considerably more than any superintendent’s candidate — Republican or Democrat — collected ahead of the previous five primaries.
- Sherri Ybarra, a two-term incumbent with a history of campaigning on a shoestring budget, has upped her fundraising game. She has collected more than $34,000 ahead of the primary, a figure more in line with her successful (albeit underfunded) general election victories in 2014 and 2018.
As Ybarra has shown, winning the fundraising race doesn’t automatically equate to winning an election.
By the numbers
Here’s how much money state superintendent’s candidates have raised and spent for primary elections over the past two decades. (Party nominees in bold face.)
May 2002
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| Marilyn Howard, Dem | $22,725 | $3,366 |
| Tom Luna, GOP | $22,450 | $16,751 |
May 2006
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| Steve Casey, GOP | $17,732 | $15,357 |
| Luna | $50,073 | $32,704 |
| Steve Smylie, GOP | $49,048 | $39,214 |
| Jana Jones, Dem | $23,150 | $23,071 |
| Bert Marley, Dem | $41,418 | $22,141 |
May 2010
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| Luna | $24,265 | $12,405 |
| Stan Olson, Dem | $17,544 | $6,903 |
May 2014
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| John Eynon, GOP | $14,784 | $10,047 |
| Andy Grover, GOP | $37,854 | $24,350 |
| Randy Jensen, GOP | $7,124 | $4,248 |
| Sherri Ybarra, GOP | $2,850 | $2,480 |
| Jones | $51,404 | $33,609 |
May 2018
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| Jeff Dillon, GOP | $5,739 | $4,349 |
| Ybarra | $11,805 | $6,935 |
| Allen Humble, Dem | $1,101 | $51 |
| Cindy Wilson, Dem | $26,721 | $3,151 |
May 2022
| Candidate | Money raised | Money spent |
| Debbie Critchfield, GOP | $319,559 | $157,357 |
| Branden Durst, GOP | $67,745 | $43,638 |
| Ybarra | $34,469 | $28,939 |
| Terry Gilbert, Dem | $4,744 | $921 |
