In races full of challengers, voters in Southern Arizona mostly backed the status quo.
The most aggressive race in town was the Democratic battle to represent Flowing Wells, midtown Tucson and South Tucson in the state Senate.
The primary election between Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez and former Tucson City Council member Rocque Perez was fought in the courts, inside political party committees and in the streets — yes, the sign game got ugly in the last week.
In the end, Hernandez — who is among the most conservative Democrats in the state Legislature — won 54% of the vote over Perez. Hernandez’s victory might prove that centrist Democrats still have some juice left. Or, it just shows that it’s hard to beat a multi-term incumbent with a prominent family name.
Hernandez, who has two siblings who have served in the Legislature, had reached her term limit in the House after serving four consecutive terms. With no Republican running in LD20 senate race, she has effectively won the seat.
Voters were split on a slate of candidates running alongside Hernandez for the district’s two House seats, backing Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales (whom Hernandez supported) and Rep. Betty Villegas (whom she did not) over challengers Genoveva Diaz and Ben Koehler.
Because both Gonzales and Villegas currently serve in the Legislature, they are effectively incumbents, even though Gonzales is moving from the Senate to the House.
Another Hernandez victory
In neighboring LD21, which stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border to Tucson's southeast side, Democratic Rep. Consuelo Hernandez, Alma’s sister, also won her reelection bid in a four-way race.
Consuelo was the favorite for one of two seats.
The district's other House seat remained too close to call as challenger Miranda Lopez, a democratic socialist who had set her sights on unseating Consuelo, held a slight lead over Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton. At last count on Tuesday night Stahl Hamilton was trailing Lopez by 174 votes for the second House seat.
The two Democrats will face GOP challenger Christopher Kibbey in this deep-blue district in November.
A good night for moderates
Perhaps more surprising than the moderate Democrats' victories over progressives was the moderate Republican victory over a MAGA candidate in Oro Valley, Marana and Vail.
Vail Unified School District Governing Board member Chris King defeated Turning Point-endorsed Anthony Dunham to become the GOP nominee for LD17’s Senate seat.
King will face Democrat Edgar Soto in the November general election in this district, which is considered among the most competitive in the state.
As for the uncontested LD17 House races, both Republican and Democratic candidates easily sailed to victory for the nomination.
Democratic Rep. Kevin Volk and Republican Rep. Rachel Keshel are running for another term, while Democrat Hollace "Holly" Lyon and GOP candidate John Winchester are both hoping to win a seat for their respective political parties.
Too close to call
In Marana, incumbent Mayor Jon Post was on track to hold onto his seat as of Tuesday night, leading challenger Greg Johnsen with 52% of the vote.
However, voters in the town appeared to endorse a slate of town council candidates who ran alongside Johnsen, with his three team mates essentially tied with the incumbents as of late Tuesday night.
Still, the races remain too close to call. In these elections, a candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote automatically wins, unless their margin is small enough to justify a recount. If no candidate obtains a majority, the general election in November functions as a runoff.
In a tight council race with seven candidates running for four seats, it seems highly unlikely that anyone will receive more than half of the vote in the primary.
Greg Johnsen, who is challenging incumbent Marana Mayor Jon Post, peruses the buffet at the Marana for the People watch party on Tuesday night.
The Marana races functioned as a referendum on two highly contentious proposed developments: a data center and an ICE detention facility.
On one side is “Marana for the People” — a slate of newbie candidates who say the current council isn’t listening to the will of Marana residents who are opposed to the projects, whether for economic or moral reasons.
On the other is “Keep Marana Strong” — a series of incumbents who say the data center is necessary for the town’s economic development and are unwilling to stick their neck out on a contract between a private landowner and the federal government.
“There’s a disconnect between the population and government,” Jackie McGuire, one of the challengers, told the Agenda outside of a watch party at a 55+ apartment community. “People are looking for ways to get involved, ways to make change, ways to have some semblance of control over what's going on around them. And I think people are starting to plug in to something I was ignorant of a year ago: Local politics is where things can be started or stopped.”
The races, despite their ostensible nonpartisan nature, nonetheless had a partisan valence.
“It’s no secret,” Johnsen told the Agenda. “The town council are Republicans. We’re all Democrats. We’re saying we need change.”
Jackie McGuire addresses supporters.
Oro Valley backs vice mayor
In neighboring Oro Valley, Vice Mayor Melanie Barrett had more than 60% of the vote in her race for mayor, ending former Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier‘s chances of returning to politics.
It is, again, too close to call in Oro Valley’s town council race. Former Councilwoman Rhonda Pina — as well as political newcomers Rosa Dailey and Matt Wood — had early leads over Jacob "Jake" Herrington and right-wing podcast host Chris DeSimone.
The three leading candidates campaigned on public safety and economic development issues during the primary.
Incumbents lead in South Tucson
In South Tucson, incumbents Roxanna Valenzuela, Cesar Aguirre and Brian Flagg had early leads on election night — but with eight people running for the three open seats, it was too close for anyone to declare victory.
The fight in the square-mile city is about whether the current council is too liberal, with critics arguing the majority is too busy making broad political statements rather than addressing more immediate chronic issues of homelessness and crime.
The town is struggling financially after losing one of its biggest revenue streams when the Food City closed. Earlier this year, the council closed its 30-person fire department in favor of contracting with Rural Metro Fire.
Some of the candidates challenging the incumbents also want to see the return of Flock cameras in the small community and reverse that decision supported by Valenzuela, Aguirre and Flagg.
Challengers lose steam in Sahuarita
In Sahuarita, incumbents had the early advantage. Mayor Tom Murphy and Council member Deborah Morales had early leads, as did political novice Chelsea Hundal in the race for the other council seat.
Voters in Sahuarita also backed Proposition 420, which updates the town’s General Plan. The measure serves as a long-range policy guide for future growth and infrastructure, but some see it as opening the door to future data centers.
No emergencies on election day
With election and law enforcement officials staffing an emergency operations center to rapidly respond to election-related emergencies, Tuesday night in the Old Pueblo ended without any major incidents.
That is, unless you count the bees that were a little too protective of their hive near the polling place at Morris K. Udall Park. From what we heard, city staff quickly moved the polling pests past the 75-foot boundary and voters went back to voting with no further issues.
Turnout in Pima County was relatively low, with only 24% of the county’s roughly 646,000 registered voters participating.
Last thought: While this year’s primary election is over, it’s never too late to vote for local news.