Janet Napolitano has been a strong supporter of education and has the knowledge to lead Arizona for the next four years.
 
There are some political races this November in which an endorsement is difficult because both candidates are qualified.
 
The race for governor is not one of those contests.
 
There are three people running. But only one - Democratic incumbent Janet Napolitano - has the qualifications, the understanding of state government the knowledge of Arizona and, most important, the vision to be governor.
 
Education has been Napolitano's signature issue during her four years at the state's helm. She battled a recalcitrant Legislature to win state funding for all-day kindergarten.
 
She is a stalwart supporter of increased funding for higher education and has played a key role in establishing the Phoenix campus of the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
 
It is tempting to wonder what more Napolitano could have accomplished had she been working with a Legislature that was tuned in with her progressive thinking. She has had to fight hard for everything she has wanted and it is testament to her political acumen than she has won more than she has lost.
 
Vouchers is one of the defining issues that separate Napolitano's vision from that of the Legislature - and from her chief opponent, Republican Len Munsil.
 
As part of this year's budget negotiations, legislators crammed a limited voucher program down Napolitano's throat. It is a camel's nose under the tent that we strongly oppose - but one that Napolitano said she swallowed to avoid a protracted budget fight.
 
Munsil supports vouchers, and if he is elected governor, he and legislators would go on a voucher binge that would be devastating to public schools, not to mention questions about its constitutionality.
 
Munsil also wants to cut the state income tax by 10 percent a year until it is eliminated. That sounds swell on the surface. But the income tax brings in one-third of the state general fund. What spending would Munsil cut? Education? Health care? Prisons? Most discretionary spending goes into one of those areas.
 
He brings up the unspecified "waste and duplication" chestnuts and says he is confident the economy will grown fast enough that new state tax revenues from other realms will replace it. We doubt that.
 
Munsil also hammers Napolitano for not doing more to battle illegal immigration. He would use state funds for border radar, more National Guardsmen and forming a special border unit of the state police. We don't think Arizonans should pay twice for this - federal and state taxes.
 
Also running is Libertarian Barry Hess, who sought the office four years ago. Hess is intelligent and sincere. But we can't agree with his ideas.
 
He wants to eliminate the income tax immediately and replace it with "smaller government." That's too vague an idea for anyone to realistically buy into.

The Tucson Citizen endorses Janet Napolitano for re-election as governor.