Advocates of education — and sanity — across the state should have one unifying thought this election season: In any position, anyone but Tom Horne.

The current state superintendent of public instruction touts such dubious “”accomplishments”” as “”required character education for students,”” “”exposed the curriculum of ‘ethnic studies'”” and “”permanently banned bilingual education.”” In other words, Horne has used the office of state superintendent to be an overbearing, meddling bully targeting certain demographics he finds threatening.

Now Horne wants to be Arizona’s attorney general, a position from which, if elected, he’ll surely offer more of the same. His platform for the position is based almost entirely on racist, nuance-free nationalism and aggressiveness toward illegal immigration. Not the good, thoughtful, policy-driven kind of aggressiveness, though; the kind that wants to foster “”an atmosphere of patriotism”” by marginalizing and criminalizing Hispanic people in the bogus spirit of being tough on immigration. Like many other Arizona Republicans, he plans on riding the one-trick illegal immigration pony straight into office.

Luckily for Arizona, there couldn’t be a starker contrast between Horne and his opponent. With Felecia Rotellini, Arizonans don’t have to just vote for “”anyone but Horne”” — they can vote for a strong, smart candidate who will stand up for Arizona. While her platforms are still tough on illegal immigration, she’ll crack down in a sane way that uses Arizona’s resources wisely. Instead of vague platitudes about “”securing the border,”” Rotellini plans to crack down on human and drug smugglers; in other words, those with the money and power to facilitate illegal immigration. Rotellini will also aggressively prosecute financial and mortgage fraud, a vital pursuit in Arizona’s current economy.

Felecia Rotellini is an experienced attorney who will protect Arizonans without wasting resources. She is the clear, and indeed the only acceptable, choice for attorney general.