As part of Arizona PBS’ ongoing “AZ Votes 2026” election coverage initiative, a series titled “Candidates in Conversation,” we were joined by Nick Mansour, the Democratic candidate for Arizona State Treasurer. Mansour discussed his candidacy, Arizona politics and issues ahead of the November 2026 general election.
Elijah Norton, the Republican candidate, declined to join the conversation.
Mansour tapped his previous experience as a chairman for the Arizona College of Nursing and shared how managing their finances and their employees helps to qualify him to hold this statewide position.
“I know about managing money, I know about managing people and leading an organization like this,” Mansour said.
Mansour believes that the state treasurer should be run as a “nonpartisan position”. Instead of injecting partisan positions into the role, Mansour says he would instead advocate for different policies.
In the role of state treasurer, Mansour says that the first order of business is to “make sure our money is invested well”. Mansour delved more into what that investment strategy would look like.
“The right order is safety, liquidity and then yield. That’s how we’ve been focused many years and how I want us to remain focused,” Mansour said.
Mansour also added that he would take a more cautious than aggressive approach when it comes to the state’s financial approach.
One point of focus for Mansour if he were to be elected to be the state’s next treasurer would be to focus in on how money is being invested into education. As of now, Mansour believes that the state is “not investing it well”.
“We’re over allocated to bonds today, and we should be doing more on the public index side. So, that’s what I would like to see changed,” Mansour said.
Turning to look at distribution, Mansour says that it is possible for the current distribution of about 2.5% of the endowment fund to be raised above 5% with the proper guard rails in place.
