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Endorses Landis

The race

Agua Fria Union High School District voters elect two members to four-year terms on the five-member governing board on November 3, 2026. Vote for up to two. Both seats are held by incumbents seeking re-election; the only challenger is a filed write-in, whose name does not appear on the printed ballot.

The certified roster is: Vickie Landis (incumbent), Eric Cultum (incumbent), and Ethan Canny (filed write-in). The district also asks voters to renew a 15% maintenance and operations override (Proposition 438), covered in our measure coverage.

The candidates

Vickie Landis (incumbent). Landis has more than 25 years of experience in education, including 15 years in the classroom, and has also served as a coach, assistant principal and director of curriculum and instruction, as reported by The Arizona Republic. Seeking re-election, she says she wants to continue supporting the growth of career and technical education and keeping student safety and academics the top priority.

Pros: A quarter-century education record, including curriculum leadership inside districts like this one; a stated platform of career and technical education, safety and academics. Cons: No specific board votes or policy fights from her current term were sourced in this pass; voters get experience and priorities, not a voting record.

Eric Cultum (incumbent). Cultum has worked more than 28 years in public education — teaching, coaching and administrative positions — and served on Surprise's Planning & Zoning Commission, as reported by The Arizona Republic. He says his current term focused on student learning, strategic planning, fiscal responsibility and eliminating overcrowding.

Pros: Nearly three decades in public education plus municipal planning experience; a stated record this term on fiscal responsibility and overcrowding. Cons: As with Landis, no individual board votes were sourced in this pass.

Ethan Canny (filed write-in). Canny's background is in health care private equity, with a senior position in tax accounting; he runs an independent advisory practice and partners with local investors in an Arizona-focused private equity firm, as reported by The Arizona Republic. He says he would champion strict fiscal discipline, transparency and parental choice, and seek to ensure local education dollars directly serve students and families.

Pros: A finance professional's skill set aimed squarely at the board's budget job; a clear published platform — fiscal discipline, transparency, parental choice. Cons: Unproven in public office, and a write-in candidacy asks voters to do extra work for a candidate with no governing record to inspect.

OUR CALL

Our call: Vote for up to two — we endorse Vickie Landis and Eric Cultum. The basis is sourced and stated plainly: two incumbents with a combined five decades in public education whose published priorities — career and technical education, student safety, academics, strategic planning and fiscal responsibility — match the job, against a challenger who is unproven in office. Unproven is not a demerit, and Canny's fiscal platform is a serious one; if he governs the way he campaigns, he will have earned a different call next cycle. This cycle, the sourced record belongs to the incumbents.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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