After months of campaigning, television ads and online fights over the region’s transportation future, Pima County voters backed a 20-year extension of the Regional Transportation Authority last night.
The continuation of the half-cent sales tax tied to RTA Next will generate $2.67 billion for the region, building 31 roadway corridor improvements, four freeway interchanges and dozens of additional transportation projects. Not to mention, completing several projects left unfinished by the original 20-year RTA plan.
Roughly 60% of voters backed the measure in yesterday’s special election, according to preliminary election results.
The great sign wars of 2026 started early this year, with political messaging on almost every intersection.
Propositions 418 and 419 had a long list of supporters, ranging from elected officials across Pima County to private-sector backers like the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Tucson Electric Power and Connect Pima, the political action committee that spent more than $1.3 million on signage and digital advertising backing the measure.
Last night's victory for RTA Next was also a victory for Mayor Regina Romero and the Democratic powerbrokers across the county who backed the measure.
But the RTA Next plan also drew a broad coalition of opponents that included former city transportation planners, the Living Streets Alliance, the Pima County Republican Party, and local socialists. One member of the Tucson City Council — Miranda Schubert — broke from the ranks and came out against RTA Next.
Opponents, however, didn't have much cash to work with. As of the latest campaign finance reports, the opposition campaign spent a measly $7,400 to convince voters to oppose RTA Next.
As an extension of the original RTA passed back in 2006, both Propositions 418 and 419 came with some fairly signifiant baggage.
Longtime residents remember headlines about revenue shortfalls, cost overruns as well as colorful illustrations of projects that never left the planner’s notebook.
Critics of the RTA Next proposal argued Proposition 418 — which listed the specific roads projects — wasn’t fully vetted by the public and was a compromise hashed out by a small number of elected officials and local bureaucrats. And they argued that the plan would spend too much money outside of Tucson city limits.
A previous incarnation of RTA Next plan last year eventually became a political hot potato as elected officials from two cities, three towns, Pima County, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and the Tohono O'odham Nation were unable to get on the same page. The Pima County Board of Supervisors briefly flirted with their own countywide transportation plan before returning to the negotiation table with their RTA partners.
Additionally, the former executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority became a source of friction last year as well, eventually leading to a narrow vote to fire him last summer. Farhad Moghimi recently filed a claim against the RTA for $3.8 million, arguing officials violated open meeting laws when they unlawfully terminated him.
Turnout was relatively high for a single-issue special election. As of last night, the Pima County Elections Department had processed 194,277 ballots for Propositions 418 and 419 and turnout was hovering at about 29%.
Compare this to last year’s Proposition 414 when 25% of the city’s voters cast a ballot in that special election.
Still not cracking the case: Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos talked a lot of trash when the Republic’s Stephanie Murray asked about his résumé’s claim that he worked at his hometown El Paso Police Department until 1984. But he ended up revising his public resume to show he actually left two years earlier (and that was in lieu of termination after a string of disciplinary problems). During his time there, he was suspended and/or disciplined for excessive use of force, tardiness, dereliction of duty, failure to report for duty, off-duty gambling, making threats and improperly using a siren on his vehicle, among other things, Murray reports. Nanos’ spotty performance history has been getting a lot more attention from news outlets as his department has failed to solve the Nancy Guthrie case.
“That’s your ‘urgent’ request? You sure you don’t want to go back to my high school and ask why I got swats from the principal? Good luck with your hit piece,” Nanos wrote in an email response to Murray’s questions.
Could be wild: The unexpectedly hot February could lead to a tough wildfire season this summer, Victoria Gonzalez reports for Arizona Sonoran News. To make matters worse, the snowpack on Arizona’s mountains, including Mount Lemmon, is far below the average. It’s a trend that has forest officials saying “we have seen fire season become fire year.”
What will Hobbs do?: Arizona Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman picked up where Tucson-area Rep. Rachel Keshel left off, the Arizona Mirror’s Caitlin Sievers reports. Keshel has tried to ban voting centers, in favor of precinct-only voting, for the past three years and now Hoffman’s SB1746 has made it through the Senate. And an Arizona House committee moved along a bill that would require local police to alert ICE whenever they arrest someone who is undocumented, per Joe Duhownik of Courthouse News Service.
Calling for clarity: TUSD staffers and students are clamoring for more training about how to deal with ICE, the Arizona Luminaria’s Shannon Conner reports. More than 1,000 staffers signed a petition asking for better guidelines, akin to a lockdown or a fire drill, if ICE agents come on campus.
An old problem: The old buildings that line streets in Douglas are a charming reminder of the city’s history. They’re also dangerous and business owners say they’re hindering the city’s growth, Alexis Ramanjulu reports for KGUN. In some cases, the people who own those old buildings don’t live in Douglas and don’t know their properties are crumbling.
If enough of you subscribe, maybe we can one day own a crumbling property in Douglas.
Remember former Republican Sen. Justine Wadsack?
She was the Freedom Caucus lawmaker with the sparkle-goth aesthetic who represented Tucson for two years until she lost a GOP primary election, which she blamed on a conspiracy by Tucson police to “leak” the police report that showed she was driving her Tesla twice the speed limit down Speedway Blvd.
Then she sued the city but ultimately dropped the lawsuit after she missed several hearings, got fired by her lawyer and faced potential sanctions.
Anyway, she’s running for office again.
But breathe easy, Tucson.
She’s seeking a seat in the state House representing the Gilbert-based Legislative District 14.