Incumbents Dominate K-12 School Board Elections in Pima County

As the counting of votes from Tuesday’s election continues, incumbent school board members are showing strong performances across various districts. Notably, two incumbents from the Pima Community College Governing Board faced defeat at the hands of voters.

As of Thursday evening, early results indicated that on the Tucson Unified School District Governing Board, incumbents Natalie Luna Rose (26 percent), Sadie Shaw (22 percent), and Ravi Shah (19 percent) were currently ahead of challengers Pilar Acosta Ruiz (17 percent) and Esteban Flores (15 percent). Pima County officials reported they still had approximately 136,928 early ballots to count as of Thursday night.

In the Vail School District, incumbents Allison Pratt (25 percent), Chris King (23 percent), and Callie Tippett (22 percent) were maintaining leads over challengers Laura Moore (19 percent) and John Mothershead (11 percent) in a contest for three available seats. Meanwhile, in the Tanque Verde School District, incumbents Jeffrey Neff (29 percent), Anne Velosa (26 percent), and Jeremy Schalk (23 percent) were closely contesting with challenger Christy Brent (22 percent); only 129 votes separated Schalk from Brent.

Over in the Marana Unified School District, Cathie Raymond (22 percent), newcomer Roy Alexander (21 percent), and incumbent Hunter Holt (21 percent) led the race against incumbent David Willard (20 percent) and Mikail Roberts (17 percent), with just 385 votes distinguishing Holt from Willard. Meanwhile, voters in the district approved Prop 411, a budget override proposal.

Moving to the North-Central Flowing Wells School District, incumbents Stephanie Miller (30 percent), Wendy Effing (25 percent), and Kevin Daily (24 percent) were surpassing challenger Joseph Delgado (21 percent). In the Catalina Foothills School District, Jacquelyn Davoli (33 percent) and Tom Logue (31 percent) earned significant leads over their opponents, Jennifer Repscher (20 percent) and Bart Pemberton (16 percent). Additionally, appointed incumbent Eileen Jackson was gaining 74 percent of the vote in the race for a two-year term against Brooke Arispe (26 percent).

In the Sahuarita Unified School District, Amy Petersmarck (24 percent) and incumbents Tony Bruno (24 percent) and Denise D. Reis (22 percent) were ahead of Kathryn Zanin (18 percent) and Debra Fettig (12 percent) in the bids for three seats. The Amphitheater School District Governing Board election was canceled due to a lack of contested races, as there were only three candidates for three seats. However, voters in this district did approve Prop 412, a bond proposal, and Prop 413, a budget override.

On the Pima Community College Board of Governors front, in District 5, Karla Morales led incumbent Luis Lopez Gonzales with 60 percent of the vote. In District 3, former constable Kristen Randall was ahead of incumbent Maria De La Luz Garcia with 57 percent. Lastly, Nicole Barraza ran unopposed in District 1 for a two-year term.