PHOENIX - Ken Bennett wants a one-on-one rematch against Gov. Doug Ducey in the 2018 Republican primary for Arizona governor.
Bennett, a former secretary of state who lost to Ducey in a crowded 2014 primary, told 12 News Friday night he had filed papers to run for governor a second time.
In a phone interview, Bennett criticized Ducey's financial management.
He compared Ducey's proposed billion-dollar-plus budget increase for teacher raises over the next three years to spending under Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano that wasn't supported by revenue growth.
"I can't believe I'm watching the same movie 10 years later - a governor proposing a billion-dollar spending increase and no way to pay for it," said Bennett, who was Senate president for four years during Napolitano's tenure.
"It's not prudent leadership. It's not good budgeting."
Ducey budget analysts project $1.5 billion in new revenue over the next five years.
An independent consultant for the governor's office says Arizona's economy will grow at a faster rate than the state has seen over the last several years.
Bennett said he supported raises for Arizona teachers.
"There are some ways to give teachers a 20-percent raise," he said, "but we've got to fix problems in the [school] funding formula and without raising taxes on Arizonans."
Bennett finished fourth in a six-way Republican primary in 2014, with 12 percent of the vote.
Ducey who has yet to formally announce his re-election campaign, had $3 million in cash on hand at the end of March.
Ducey campaign manager J.P. Twist emailed a one-sentence statement responding to Bennett: "It wouldn’t be an election year without Ken running for something."
If he gets enough signatures by May 30 to qualify for the ballot, this would be Bennett's eighth time on a ballot for state or federal office in the last 20 years.
Bennett said he had been receiving calls all day Friday urging him not to run against Ducey.
"My phone's been ringing off the hook," he said.
In order to get on the ballot, Bennett faces the daunting task of getting 6,300 voter signatures by May 30, just 40 days away.