Nail-Biting Finishes Loom as Pima County’s Vote Tally Continues

The dust is still settling from this week’s primary election as Pima County officials continue to verify and count the remaining votes.

As of 6:25 p.m. Thursday, county officials had tabulated 188,270 ballots. They informed the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office that an estimated 9,406 ballots remain to be counted. This figure includes provisional and early ballots that may be disqualified during the verification process.

Reports indicate the Pima County Recorder’s Office has approximately 532 early ballots awaiting signature verification. These ballots either arrived in the mail too late for pre-election day review or were dropped off at vote centers on Election Day.

Additionally, there are 462 provisional ballots that need further investigation to confirm voter eligibility.

With the latest count, few Pima County or Southern Arizona legislative races remain narrowly contested.

In the Democratic primary for Legislative District 21, state Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton leads Nogales attorney Brianna “Breezy” Ortega by 452 votes, tallying 8,854 to 8,402. Ortega won Santa Cruz County by 596 votes, while Hamilton took Pima County by 745 votes and Cochise County by 303 votes.

Santa Cruz County has finished counting ballots, while Cochise County officials estimated 2,235 ballots remained as of Thursday evening, according to reports filed with the Arizona Secretary of State.

LD21 Rep. Consuelo Hernandez, who campaigned with Ortega to unseat Hamilton, received the highest vote count with 13,222 votes.

The top two Democratic candidates will face Republican Christopher Kibbey in the district. This area includes central Tucson neighborhoods, extends south through Sahuarita, and encompasses Southern Arizona communities such as Nogales and Bisbee, along with the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Approximately 73 percent of voters in this Democratic-leaning district reside in Pima County, with 22 percent in Santa Cruz County and 5 percent in Cochise County.

In Legislative District 17, Republican Vince Leach has defeated incumbent Sen. Justine Wadsack, capturing 52 percent of the vote and leading by 1,533 votes. Leach will face Democrat John McLean in the Nov. 5 general election.

In the race for constable in South Side Justice Precinct 9, write-in candidate Gerard Acuña garnered 227 votes, falling short of the 492 needed to appear as the Democratic nominee on the November ballot. The incumbent, George Camacho, was removed after a judge determined he lacked enough valid signatures on his nominating petitions.

In South Tucson, four City Council seats were contested, with just 24 votes separating fourth-place incumbent Paul Diaz (144 votes) from incumbent Herman Lopez (120 votes). Both trailed challengers Dulce Jimenez (248 votes), Pablo A. Robles (233 votes), and Melissa Dominguez (199 votes). Diaz and Lopez served as mayor and vice-mayor, respectively.

For the Oro Valley Town Council, 530 votes differentiated third-place Harry “Mo” Greene (7,763 votes) from fourth-place Tim Bowen (7,233 votes). Challengers Elizabeth Robb (10,030 votes) and Mary Murphy (9,604 votes) led the race significantly.

In Marana, a mere 62 votes separated second-place incumbent Roxanne Ziegler (6,502 votes) from third-place Melissa Zupi (6,440 votes). Challenger Patrick Cavanaugh led with 6,712 votes in his second attempt at a Town Council seat.