The hot local races
There are a lot of local races ... These are the ones that really matter ... Nanos lets loose.
As ballots arrive in mailboxes, voters are working through all those races they’ve heard about this election season.
We’re here to help you get caught up.
The local race playing out on the national stage
It’s not often so few people get the chance to decide the direction of the federal government.
But voters in Congressional District 6, which includes Tucson’s north and east sides and runs down into Cochise County, are wielding quite a bit of power right now.
The candidates: Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani is trying to win a second term as he faces a challenge from Democrat Kirsten Engel.
The situation: Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, 220-212. Political observers from across the country have had their eyes on the race in CD6 since last year, when Engel announced she wanted a rematch after Ciscomani beat her by just 1.4 percentage points in the 2022 race.
The stakes: Do you want federal protections for abortion rights? What should Congress do about the border and immigration? Do you want to put up a powerful obstacle to the agenda of Donald Trump or the agenda of Kamala Harris?
The issues: Engel is leaning on abortion rights to motivate voters. As an environmental lawyer, she’s also focusing on climate change and water in Southern Arizona. Ciscomani has been hammering the border and immigration, using his background as an immigrant to bolster his tough-on-the-border platform.
The local races that could decide the future of Arizona
As we’ve noted before, the races for the two House seats and one Senate seat in Legislative District 17 are among the most competitive in the state.
The candidates: In the Senate, former lawmaker Vince Leach beat state Sen. Justine Wadsack, who ousted him in 2022, in the Republican primary. Now Leach is facing Democrat John McLean, a former executive.
In the House, first-term Republican Reps. Cory McGarr and Rachel Jones are fending off a challenge from newcomer Kevin Volk. McGarr and Jones are members of the ultra-right Freedom Caucus, while Volk casts himself as a moderate who is willing to work with anybody.
The situation: Republicans have a tiny majority in the state Legislature. But that’s enough to block basically all legislation from Democratic lawmakers. If the state House or Senate flip, we’ll be looking at a very different dynamic at the state Capitol — one where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs can actually enact her agenda, rather than simply stamping out Republican ideas via her veto power.
The stakes: Do you want to expand or cut the school voucher program? If Prop 139 doesn’t pass, should lawmakers protect or restrict abortion rights? Should the state play a bigger role in border enforcement or leave it to federal officials?
The issues: Leach is touting his record of keeping the state’s spending in check. He also focuses on beefing up border security, protecting water as a property right, and supporting the state’s 15-week abortion ban. McLean focuses on protecting abortion rights, regulating groundwater, and increasing funding for education, while adding some oversight to the school voucher program.
Volk wants to instill more fiscal responsibility at the Legislature, streamline regulations to allow for more housing, and protect abortion rights. McGarr wants to repeal the income tax, declare drug cartels as terrorist organizations, and ban critical race theory from schools. Jones wants to repatriate migrants who cross the border illegally, strengthen “election integrity,” and stop “ceding the public square to filthy tent cities.”
There’s a lot of ground to cover with these elections, isn’t there? Subscribe to the Agenda to stay on top of it all.
As local as it gets
If you live on the northwest or east sides of town, your vote could decide whether the county stays on a Democratic track.
Four of the five Pima County Supervisors are up for re-election this year.1 Three of the races could be considered at least somewhat up in the air, but really just two of them, in District 1 and District 4, look competitive.
District 3 doesn’t have an incumbent, since former Supervisor Sharon Bronson retired last year, so that’s a bit of a question mark. But Democrats have a solid advantage in the district.
The candidates: District 1 Supervisor Rex Scott is in a rematch with Republican Steve Spain, who Scott beat by just 730 votes four years ago. District 4 Supervisor Steve Christy, the lone Republican on the board, faces a challenge from Democrat Vanessa Bechtol, an executive at Visit Tucson.
The situation: Democrats have controlled the board with a 4-1 majority for the past four years. If all the incumbents win, the board will stay on the same track. It’s unlikely Republicans will win a majority, but it’s worth noting that it’s not uncommon for a Democratic supervisor to side with Christy on votes. If voters put one more Republican on the dais, that would be enough for a majority vote in those cases.
The stakes: Do you want the county to fund more affordable housing? How should the county deal with homelessness? Do you want the county to focus solely on public safety and other core responsibilities? Should the county continue to support asylum seekers?
The issues: In District 1, Spain’s main message is that the county is spending too much money and focusing on too many issues that aren’t the county government’s responsibility. For his part, Scott pushed back on raising property taxes this year and says the county should eliminate vacant positions before raising taxes. But he does support programs that might not fit a conservative definition of core responsibilities, such as the Pima Early Education Program that funds preschool.
In District 4, Christy wants the county to be pro-business and take a harder stance on homelessness, the opioid epidemic, and shoplifting. He says the county budget should revert to what it was before Covid-related federal funding and grants flowed to the county. Bechtol opposes raising property taxes. She supports the county’s Prosperity Initiative and wants to fund more affordable housing. as well as change the zoning code to make it easier to build more types of housing.
The company we keep: Republican state Rep. Rachel Jones, who’s running for re-election to a House seat in LD17, is married to Donald Trump’s favorite election predictor, Seth Keshel, the New York Times reported in a profile of Keshel. How do you become Trump’s favorite predictor? By including nonexistent widespread election fraud in your models. Jones and Keshel met while he was testifying about election fraud at the Capitol last year.
Accusations fly: Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos says he suspended his political opponent, Lt. Heather Lappin, partly because she “colluded with a journalist” to pay an inmate at the county jail to get a story, Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel and Dan Shearer of the Green Valley News report. Sources said the journalist worked for the Arizona Luminaria, which has reported extensively on problems at the jail. The Luminaria “does not and would never pay for sources, interviews or information,” Irene McKisson, the outlet’s principal executive, said in a statement.
Hobbling opponents: Star columnist Tim Steller points out the convenient coincidences in Nanos’ allegations, including that the Luminaria reporter in question, John Washington, has aggressively covered deaths at county jails, which makes Nanos look bad. And the supposed collusion was discovered just before the election. Another coincidence: Under her suspension, Lappin is required to stay at home during work hours, which means she can’t campaign during those hours. Steller also points out this isn’t the first time Nanos has tried to hobble a political opponent. Back in 2016, Nanos suspended a sergeant who filed papers to run against him.
Gagged, for now: As for what Lappin has to say, her lawyer, Steve Serbalik, said in a statement that multiple members of the sheriff’s department were issued admonishments, or gag orders, and he was looking forward to “being able to comment further after the admonishments are lifted by Sheriff Nanos,” KVOA’s Zachary Jackson reports.
Fright nights: With Halloween just around the corner, the Tucson Sentinel’s Bianca Morales runs down the spooky local attractions, like haunted corn mazes, the 50-room slaughterhouse, zombie hunts, and more.
Artful smoke shop: The owner of a Tucson smoke shop is trying to stand out, other than for the rise in police calls to local smoke shops, KGUN’s Eddie Celaya reports. Aspen Franklin-Owens, co-owner of Sunset Smoke Shop, offers live glassblowing sessions and cannabis education classes, with plans to open a glassblowing studio next door.
19: The number of record high temperatures Tucson broke or tied over the past few weeks.
Supervisor Sylvia Lee, who was appointed to replace Democrat Sharon Bronson when she retired last year, is not seeking election to the post for a full term.
LD 17 was an insane gerrymander. So was CD-06.
Who is selected to be on the redistricting commission matters.