Slade Mead

Slade Mead is a former Arizona state senator and is Republican turned Democrat who is challenging Tom Horne to be the next Superintendent of Public Instruction, which is the head of the state's education department.

Family Life

Mead was born on September 6, 1961 in Torrington, Connecticut. Both of his partents were teachers, and later on his two siblings would become teachers as well. He studied at Yale, and, for a year in between his undergraduate and law school education, taught high school as well.

In 1996, he and his wife, Alison, moved to Arizona with their two children from Virginia. His eldest daughter, Lindsey, is a special needs child with a rare form of epilepsy, a severe seizure disorder. It is his daughter that eventually drove Slade into the political arena. It is unfortunate that Slade uses his daughter for political gain, but that is the nature of someone without political convictions or a real desire to impact children, rather than further his own political career.

Early Political Career

As a result of his daughter's disorder, Slade slowly became involved in her school, which then evolved into a seat on his local site council and finally a seat on the Kyrene School Board. While on the Kyrene School Board, Mead became "frustrated and dismayed" by the state's funding of their public schools. He then became frustrated with his State Senator, Lori Daniels, who seemed "indifferent to the situation". He decided to run against her.

State Senate Career

Mead managed to defeat Daniels in the Republican Primary, and took her senate seat for District 20. He was Vice-Chairman of the Education Commitee, and sat on the Appropriations and Government Commitees as well.

In 2003, A fight ensued over the GOP's proposed budget. Mead eventually sided with the Democrats, citing a lack of funding for Public education. This event resulted in Mead's exile from the party, and in 2004 John Huppenthal was chosen by the Republican party to challenge him in the primary. After a bitterly fought campaign in which Huppenthal out spent Mead almost 2 - 1, Mead lost.

Run for Superintendet

After his primary defeat, Mead was contacted by Governor Janet Napolitano and his then-senate collegue, the now-Democratic Chairman, Harry Mitchell to switch parties. Slade did not hesitate to switch parties, which rightly concerns many Arizona voters. His reasons for becoming a Democrat are as vague as his reasons for his previous switch to the GOP. The one common thread is Slade's desire for the limelight. His campaign for Superintendent is now in the early stages. He is running through Clean Elections, and faces a primary challenge for Teach for America's Jason Williams. He is at this time short of the required petition signatures, which puts the future of his campaign in serious doubt.

Main Source

www.slademead.com