Tom Horne

Horne was married to his wife, Martha, for 47 years. She died in 2019. The couple had five children, one of whom died at age three.

In August 2018, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered that the "Outlaw Dirty Money Act" not appear on the ballot because supporters didn't submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify. Many of the signatures disqualified in the ruling were thrown out because they were collected by 15 paid gatherers who didn't respond to subpoenas requiring them to appear in court for the lawsuit.

In December 2017, Tom Horne and former Phoenix mayor and state Attorney General Terry Goddard created the "Outlaw Dirty Money Act" which would reverse a trend in recent years of hiding the source of political contributions.

On May 25, 2017, the Arizona Supreme Court voided the lower-court decisions, agreeing with Horne and Winn that they were denied due process because Polk was involved in the prosecution's strategy and case preparation. The case was sent back to the Attorney General's Office for a final administrative decision.

On July 5, 2017, Horne was absolved of any wrongdoing by Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre, to whom the Attorney General's Office referred the case for the final administrative decision. The final decision in Horne's favor stated: "The record, unfortunately, supports a conclusion that the investigation being conducted was not a search for the truth, but rather, only intended to shore up conclusions already drawn." Horne was vindicated.

On March 16, 2016, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, after examining the allegations for more than a year and determining there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction, closed its investigation of Horne.

Horne filed a 2013 lawsuit that compelled the Maricopa County Community College District to end its policy of in-state tuition for "dreamers" (undocumented immigrants with federal work permits, who came to the U.S. as children). When accused of being anti-immigrant, Horne responded that he was one himself, being born in Canada. Horne met with students and explained that he was "obligated to enforce the law." Activists held protests and many were arrested. On May 5, 2015, a Maricopa Superior Court judge ruled that "dreamers" could pay in-state tuition rates, ending the two-year lawsuit then A.G. Horne had filed.

On August 26, 2014, Horne was defeated in his reelection campaign in the Republican primary by Mark Brnovich. Brnovich defeated Horne by a margin of 54% to 46%.

A.G.'s in 44 states, including Arizona, and D.C. had sued Sirius XM, alleging that it had engaged in misleading, unfair and deceptive practices. On December 4, 2014, Horne, announced that $230,000 of the $3.8 million settlement would go to affected Arizona consumers.

Horne and other A.G.'s reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc. in 2014, after accusing it of unlawfully promoting Rapamune, an immunosuppressive drug. $721,169 went to Arizona, deposited into the Consumer Fraud Revolving Fund.

Horne criticized the 2014 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) practice of sending illegal immigrants from Texas to Arizona. "These aliens are not being transported for the purposes of detaining them in a federal facility located in Arizona," Horne wrote, in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. "Rather, DHS is inexplicably moving them some 1200 miles and simply releasing them here (outdoors in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees) rather than in Texas."

In 2014 a federal jury awarded a couple living in Colorado City, Arizona, $5.2 million, for religious discrimination. The A.G.'s of both Utah and Arizona intervened in the case. The mostly polygamist towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, and utilities had violated federal and state housing discrimination laws "by discriminating against the Cookes in the provision of services or facilities because of religion." Horne was a long-time critic of the Colorado City police force, known as "the marshal's office." He felt that the marshals were an arm of the FLDS church instead of the law. In 2012 Horne allocated $420,000 to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office to patrol Colorado City. In 2014 he asked for a federal judge to disband the office, after legislation he supported to do so failed to pass. The motion was denied, but, the judge instructed the office to avoid discrimination.

In May 2014, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, to whom that matter had been referred, rejected the administrative judge's recommendation and issued a final administrative decision ordering Horne and Winn to reimburse campaign donors $400,000. Horne and Winn appealed to the Maricopa County Superior Court, which upheld Polk's decision. They then appealed to the Court of Appeals.

On May 5, 2014, an attorney representing a former AG staff member and ex-Horne campaign volunteer, filed a litigation hold letter with the Arizona Attorney General's office, alleging that much of Horne's executive office staff is involved in "substantial campaigning" for his 2014 re-election, "while on state time and utilizing State resources," which, if proven true, could "represent a substantial violation of State and Federal laws which prohibit such conduct"

On July 7, 2014, the Arizona Secretary of State's Office released a memo, finding probable cause that Horne violated several campaign-finance laws related to allegations that Horne had employees doing his campaign work on state time, at the AG's office. After investigation, no penalties were imposed.

In 2013 Horne wrote an opinion that defended the state preemption of regulation of firearms; he found that Tucson's city gun laws were unenforceable. In 2012 Horne proposed that a principal or a designee be trained and armed in each school. In 2013, he proposed legislation that would allow teachers to carry guns in public schools.

Horne threatened to sue the city of Bisbee, Arizona, over a 2013 ordinance recognizing same-sex couples. He withdrew the threat several days later when Bisbee agreed to rewrite the ordinance, removing rights reserved for married couples under Arizona law. In October, 2014, a federal judge ruled that Arizona's law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional, and Horne did not appeal. He felt the chance of it being overturned was "zero," and, added, "I think it is over."

Horne was involved with other A.G's in several consumer suits. On February 19, 2012, Horne announced Arizona had reached agreement to join a $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over abuse and fraud allegations. Arizona's share was $1.6 billion, with $1.3 billion for underwater (negative equity) homeowners. The settlement was the result of an initiative that included 49 A.G.'s. A similar suit against SunTrust netted $40 million for damaged Arizona homeowners. There was also a separate, Arizona only, settlement with the Bank of America over mortgage practices, which included costs incurred by the A.G.'s office in the lawsuit.

In a 2012 United States Supreme Court case, Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., Horne argued that Arizona's voter registration requirements were not preempted by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The case was decided against Horne and Arizona, by a 7–2 vote. The decision stated "Arizona is correct that the Elections Clause empowers Congress to regulate how federal elections are held, but not who may vote in them. The latter is the province of the states." However, because Horne's predecessor as Attorney General had not appealed an adverse decision by the commission, the case was sent back for a new petition to the commission to be appealed. It was consolidated with a 10th circuit case, which ruled adversely, and the Supreme Court chose not to review a second time. The Court also held that Arizona may petition to have more requirements added to the federal standard.

In October 2012, after an FBI investigation, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery concluded that Horne deliberately broke campaign finance laws during his 2010 election campaign by coordinating with an independent expenditure committee run by Kathleen Winn. In April 2014, an independent Administrative Law Judge concluded that the prosecution in the case "failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence" that Horne illegally coordinated with the independent expenditure committee during the 2010 general election campaign for attorney general

On November 2, 2010, Horne defeated Felecia Rotellini in the race for Arizona Attorney General in the 2010 elections.

Shortly after winning the 2010 election, Horne announced that he wanted the office "to do more in the way of consumer protection, even when the cases are small", pursuing violations of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act. This led to a string of sting operations against auto repair businesses, prompting an offer from an industry group to assist the A.G. in cleaning up the repair business .

In October 2007, while State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Horne was cited for criminal speeding in Scottsdale, Arizona. During a subsequent year-and-a-half period, Horne was cited for speeding six additional times, including once in a school zone. The criminal speeding charge was settled as a traffic offense.

Among his earliest acts in office was to push for a strengthening of Arizona's social studies standards so that instruction on topics such as the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence would be emphasized not only in elementary grades, but reiterated at later grade levels. Under the new standards developed during his administration, second-graders would study ancient civilizations in China and India, as well as how inventions of paper and fireworks in Asia contributed to the development of later civilizations. In September 2006, Horne announced a partnership with History Education and The History Channel to implement a statewide social studies initiative. Funding for the program was $3.7 million. "I am tremendously gratified that The History Channel has recognized the hard work that it has taken to strengthen Arizona's history standards," said Horne.

After 24 years as a school board member and four years as a legislator, Horne served as the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 to 2011.

Horne served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1997 until 2001. He chaired the Academic Accountability Committee and served as vice-chair of the Education Committee.

Horne also continued to implement the Arizona Instrument to Measure Success (AIMS) test, which was created by Lisa Graham Keegan and approved by the legislature in the 1990s, but did not go into effect until 2006. Despite minor controversy over the requirement that students pass the test before graduating high school, the test became an accepted part of the state education system, until it was replaced in 2014. Horne created an incentive program whereby students who exceeded standards on the AIMS test and met other criteria received tuition scholarships to Arizona's public universities. For a high honors diploma, which guaranteed free tuition at any of Arizona's three universities, a student must have exceeded the standard on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards in reading, math and writing in addition to earning a B or better in all 16 core classes and graduate with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or be in the top five percent of the graduating class. An alternative was to exceed the standard on two categories on AIMS and get a score of 3 or better on two Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. "The essence of this action is to support the encouragement of schools and students to strive not just for proficiency but to exceed proficiency," said Horne. "It will be a powerful incentive."

Horne was born in Montreal, Quebec. His parents, refugees from Poland, brought him to New York when he was age 4, upon which his parents being naturalized U.S. citizens, Horne, a minor at the time, was also naturalized. He is a graduate of Harvard College (1967) and Harvard Law School (1970).

Horne was the president of T.C. Horne & Co., an investment firm he founded in the late 1960s. After the firm went bankrupt in 1970, Horne received a lifetime trading ban from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1973 SEC report alleged that as president of T.C. Horne & Co, Horne "among other things, violated the record-keeping, anti-fraud, and broker-dealer net capital provisions of the federal securities laws and filed false financial reports with the commission." Horne stipulated to an SEC finding that he and his firm "willfully aided and abetted" in violations of securities laws. Horne would later state that these problems stemmed from his attempts to enter into early-on computerization and that he got in over his head while working his way through law school.

Thomas Charles Horne (born March 28, 1945) is an American attorney, politician, and Republican activist who served as the 25th Attorney General of Arizona from 2011 to 2015. Horne lost to Mark Brnovich in the Republican primary for Attorney General in 2014. He previously served as the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2003 to 2011. Horne was elected to another term as Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2022.