Yee announced her candidacy for Arizona governor in May 2021 but withdrew from the Republican nomination race in January 2022 to run for reelection as treasurer.[4]
Yee was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona; she traces her ancestry to Taishan, Guangdong.[5] Yee attended Greenway High SchoolinPhoenix where she was a student journalist at the Demon Dispatch in the early 1990s.[6] Yee is a graduate of Pepperdine University where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a bachelor's degree in English. She also holds a master's degree in public administration from Arizona State University's School of Public Affairs, and was the recipient of the honored Scholar-Citizen Award.
Yee served as state committeeman for the Arizona Republican Party, chair of the Arizona Legislative District 10 Republican Committee, and delegate for Arizona at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
As a member of the Arizona House of Representatives in 2011, Kimberly Yee was the sponsor of the "Ultrasound and Heartbeat Bill" which required doctors to provide women with the option to have an ultrasound image before proceeding with an abortion. The bill passed and was signed into law.[8]
Yee represented District 20 in the Arizona Senate from 2013 to 2019. Yee also served as state Senate majority leader from 2017 to 2019. She became the second woman elected to this position in Arizona’s history, following U.S. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who served the position in 1973, forty-four years earlier.
On November 29, 2017, she announced her candidacy for the position of Arizona state treasurer. Yee was elected Arizona treasurer on November 6, 2018.
In 2019, she implemented Senate Bill 1184, which required college students to pass a course in economics that includes financial literacy and personal finance management in order to graduate. Yee went on to create a statewide literacy task force, a 16-member board assigned the job of identifying the scope of financial literacy and proposing solutions for improvement.[10]
During the 2020 presidential campaign, she served nationally as a Co-Chairwoman of the Asian Pacific Americans for Trump Coalition and as a Member of the Pro-Life Voices for Trump Coalition.[11]
On May 17, 2021, Yee announced her candidacy for Governor of Arizona in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election.[12][13] She later dropped out of the governor's race, running for re-election as Arizona State Treasurer.[14]
2010 Challenging House District 10 incumbent Republican representatives Doug Quelland and James Weiers in the four-way August 24, 2010 Republican primary, Representative Weiers placed first, Yee placed second with 6,925 votes, and Representative Quelland placed third;[15] in the November 2, 2010 General election, Yee took the first seat with 19,485 votes and Representative Weiers took the second seat ahead of Democratic nominees former representative Jackie Thrasher and Aaron Jahneke.[16]
2012 With Republican senator John McComish redistricted to District 18, Yee was unopposed for the Senate District 20 August 28, 2012 Republican primary, winning with 15,519 votes;[17] and won the three-way November 6, 2012 General election with 37,371 votes against Democratic nominee Michael Powell and former Republican representative Doug Quelland running as an Independent.[18]
2014 Senate District 20 Yee won reelection against Democratic candidate Patty Kennedy. Yee winning with 25,103 votes against Kennedy's 16,613 votes.
2016 Senate District 20 Yee won reelection against Democratic candidate Larry Herrera. Yee winning 40,122 votes against Herrera's 28,987 votes.
2018 General election for Arizona Treasurer on November 6, 2018, Yee defeated Mark Manoil.
2022 General election Yee won reelection for Arizona Treasurer on November 8, 2022, defeating Martín Quezada.
