Mohave County Races Heat Up as Vote Count Continues

While a winner was projected in the Mohave County Board of Supervisors District 3 Republican primary, three of the other four GOP nominations remained up for grabs.

In District 1, incumbent Travis Lingenfelter held a small lead over Shawn Meisner, 2,742 votes (57.8%) to 2,000 (42.2%), according to unofficial results from the county elections department as of 11 p.m. The winner will face Democrat Catherine Wright in the November general election.

District 4 saw a crowded contest with eight candidates vying for the GOP nomination for the seat held by Jean Bishop, who chose not to seek another term. Don Martin held a small lead with 1,269 votes (20.58%), followed by Jennifer Esposito with 1,073 votes (17.4%) and Marianne Salem with 987 votes (16.01%). The eventual GOP winner will face Democrat Lisa Packard and independent Wayne Hollins in November.

District 2 is set for new representation after Hildy Angius chose not to seek re-election and instead pursue the Republican nomination for the District 30 seat in the Arizona State Senate. Bullhead City Councilmembers Rich Lettman and Grace Hecht, along with Scotty McClure, were in the running. Lettman led narrowly with 1,916 votes (42%), over Hecht’s 1,770 votes (38.8%). McClure trailed with 876 votes (19.2%). There will be no opposition in the general election.

In District 5, incumbent Ron Gould maintained a commanding lead with 4,569 votes (66.8%), while Catherine Lopez-Rajaniemi had 1,364 votes (19.9%) and Christopher Morgan garnered 907 votes (13.26%). The GOP winner will face Democrat Brian McMahan in the general election.

Hildy Angius appeared on track to secure the Arizona Senate nomination, leading comfortably with 16,503 votes (51.5%) over Ashley Gerich’s 8,888 votes (27.8%), and Kimberly Zanon’s 6,626 votes (20.71%). The winner will challenge Democrat J’Amie MorgAine in November.

Three other Mohave County offices were to be decided in the GOP primary. Incumbent Sheriff Doug Schuster enjoyed a commanding lead of over 13,000 votes and 46 percentage points against Mike Gannuscio. Incumbent Assessor Jeanne Kentch held a slim 337-vote lead, less than 2 percentage points, over Becky Foster. For superintendent of schools, John Warren led a three-man race to replace Mike File, who did not seek re-election. Warren had 11,378 votes (44.64%) while James Barber received 8,699 votes (34.13%) and Gordon Groat had 3,896 votes (21.22%).