(The Center Square) - Arizona's first Democratic state treasurer in six decades will be sworn in early next year, when longtime businessman Nick Mansour takes office.

Mansour beat Republican Elijah Norton in the general election, taking home 53.8% of the vote, as of Monday afternoon, to become the first Democrat in the office since Bob Kennedy in 1967. Mansour succeeds current Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a Republican who left the role to unsuccessfully run for superintendent of public instruction.

Now Mansour, a Tucson native and former Arizona College of Nursing president and CEO, has his sights set on safeguarding the state’s $33.2 billion in assets, with the goal of ensuring a better rate of return in the near term.

One such area that Mansour spotlighted during an interview with The Center Square on Monday was Arizona’s $11 billion educational endowment fund, which he believes has fallen short of its potential in recent years.

“We’re not investing it well,” Mansour told The Center Square. “We’ve lost out on $3.6 billion in the last 13 years. We need to do a better job of investing it, and that is my highest priority.”

Improving the office

Mansour said he plans to cut down on wasteful spending related to the educational endowment fund, working with companies to bring higher-wage jobs to Arizona and mixing up the state’s investment portfolio to include bonds and public stock index funds.

By doing that, one of Arizona’s main avenues for public education funding can reach its fullest potential, revenue wise, using the best practices of the 10 states that have similar programs to ensure the best rate of return in the long run, Mansour said.

“We want to make sure we're using the taxpayer money wisely and make sure that the money is working hard for them, just like they work hard to earn their money,” Mansour said.

Aside from the state’s educational endowment fund, Mansour’s first term in office marks his first foray into politics.

Mansour cited the fact that, aside from a brief sojourn through Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, he’s spent his whole life in Arizona, which he said means he knows what it takes to get the state’s finances in order better than those who are more recent transplants to the region.

“It's just a real honor,” Mansour said. “We have a beautiful state, and the best thing about our state is the people, and so it's just a real privilege to be able to do this.

“I ran for office because I love our state and I want to give back, and because I'm sick of where our politics are," he added. "So if I can play a role in keeping our state a great state and helping it improve, I'm all in. I'm going to work as hard as I can to fulfill my promises and just make this a great state."

The state's bottom line

Mansour's job includes managing Arizona’s $64.7 billion budget and the state government's allocations to agencies that serve Arizonans.

“People are hurting, and it's our job to try to improve their place. And that's the thing we need to focus on,” Mansour told The Center Square. “And it doesn't matter to me whether the ideas come from a Republican or a Democrat.

“We need to make sure that we're addressing those ideas and not kind of getting off on some of these very divisive, extreme ideas that have been dominating our politics for many, many, many years now,” he added.