It was a good night for Dems (in Pima County)
Not so much in the rest of the country ... Still a lot of ballots left to count.
While the country reacts to former President Donald Trump winning another term, Democrats in Pima County are looking at what could be a clean sweep of county offices.
Local Democrats also might tip the state Legislature and give Democratic lawmakers a majority, although the races in hotly contested Legislative District 17 are still too close to call.
If the early election results hold — and they easily could change over the next few days as more ballots are counted— this is what the next four years would look like for Pima County:
Democrats would have a 5-0 majority on the Board of Supervisors.
Democrat Vanessa Bechtol has a slight lead in District 4, which includes Green Valley and Tucson’s east side, over Republican incumbent Supervisor Steve Christy, the lone Republican on the board.
The District 1 race in northern Pima County was a rematch of a tight race from 2020, but the early results suggest it wasn’t nearly as competitive this time around. Incumbent Supervisor Rex Scott, a Democrat, has a big lead over his Republican rival, Steve Spain.
The District 3 seat in western Pima County was vacated last winter when longtime Democratic Supervisor Sharon Bronson retired. It looks like the seat will stay in Democratic hands. Democrat Jen Allen has a big lead over Republican Janet Wittenbraker.
Incumbent Democratic Supervisor Adelita Grijalva has an enormous lead in District 5, which includes Tucson’s west side, midtown, and downtown. It’s the same story for Supervisor Matt Heinz in District 2, which runs from downtown Tucson to Sahuarita.
If Christy loses, not only would the board no longer have a Republican, it would mean every supervisor on the board was elected on or after 2020.
Democrats would hold every countywide office.
The advantage of getting appointed as county treasurer wasn’t enough to put Republican Chris Ackerley over the top. Beth Ford, the longtime treasurer, was the only Republican holding a countywide office until she retired this year. Democrat Brian Johnson is poised to defeat Ackerley in the election.
A late scandal over suspending his Republican opponent, Lt. Heather Lappin, didn’t put a damper on Sheriff Chris Nanos’ reelection bid. He has a big lead over Lappin.
The rest of the countywide races were smooth sailing for Democratic incumbents. Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly and County Attorney Laura Conover easily handled their opponents. County Assessor Suzanne Droubie and Superintendent of Schools Dustin Williams both ran unopposed.
Statewide uncertainty
Our sister newsletter the Arizona Agenda has the skinny on the statewide and federal races, including all those ballot propositions.
In LD17, Democrat John McLean is leading Republican Vince Leach in the race for the district’s Senate seat.
Democrat Kevin Volk also is ahead of Republican incumbent Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr in the race for LD17’s two House seats.
In LD21, Democratic incumbent Reps. Consuelo Hernandez and Stephanie Stahl Hamilton had a big lead over Republican challenger Christopher Kibbey for that district’s House seats.
A similar story is unfolding in LD18, where Democratic incumbent Reps. Nancy Gutierrez and Chris Mathis are well ahead of Republican challenger Len Rosenblum.
Pima County voters were pretty evenly split over Prop 314, the border ballot measure, which is expected to pass easily.
Pima County voters came out big in support of Prop 139, the Arizona for Abortion Access ballot measure. The Associated Press said Wednesday morning that Arizona voters approved the measure.
On the national stage
Pima County voters supported Democrat Kirsten Engel over Republican incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Congressional District 6, which also includes parts of other counties. Engel is ahead in the race, but it’s still too early to say whether she got enough support to win the seat and act as a counterweight to the Trump administration’s agenda.
County voters also supported longtime Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva by a wide margin for another term in CD7, which he likely won yesterday.
Elections officials are still counting ballots, so voters won’t know the results for many races with any certainty until later this week, or even next week.
George Khalaf of Data Orbital breaks down the voting patterns on Election Day in Pima County.
Unfortunately, bomb threats were part of what was an otherwise quiet day at the polls in Arizona.
Vanesa Bechtol and other local Democrats addressed the election night crowd at Hotel Congress in a video from the Arizona Daily Star.
Voters in two of Arizona’s border counties, particularly Yuma, showed a lot more support for Trump than they did four years ago.
The Associated Press called the presidential election for Trump in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
306,504: The number of ballots tabulated in Pima County as of 5 a.m. In 2020, the county processed 459,797 votes total.