While the general political focus remains concentrated on the presidential election and the upcoming 4 years, Tucson citizens could be missing out on local and state elections that have a more direct impact on them. Many races took place on Nov. 5 in Pima County, when voters were faced with a four-page ballot full of propositions, Senate candidates and House of Representatives candidates.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial candidate.
Republicans won a Senate majority, holding 53 seats and Democrats holding 47, but Republicans will not reach a Senate supermajority.
A supermajority in the Senate is when one party holds a two-thirds majority, or 67 out of 100 senators. When a supermajority takes place, everything that party proposes will likely pass.
The race for the Senate seat in Arizona featured former candidate Lake, a close supporter of President-elect Donald Trump who has repeatedly denied the election results of her race against Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake refused to concede her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial defeat and in turn was met with an election defamation lawsuit from a local Arizona election official.
Gallego is a former U.S. Representative for Arizona’s third congressional district and a Veteran who ran on a strong stance for the right to an abortion and defending democracy.
Gallego is the son of immigrants and ran on plans to secure the border, protect water resources and indigenous communities, keep housing affordable, help veterans and support access to abortion, according to his campaign website.
Arizona also voted on and passed Proposition 139, which enshrines the right to an abortion in the Arizona state constitution. Thus, doctors can provide abortions before the point of fetal viability which is around the 24th week of pregnancy. Doctors will also not be punished for aiding in an abortion.
This decision comes about 6 months after the Arizona Supreme Court attempted to instate an 1864 abortion ban, which was fought back against by Gov. Hobbs and the Arizona state legislature. The proposition won with 61.61% of voters voting yes and 38.39% voting no.
Proposition 314 also passed, with 62.59% voting yes and 37.41% voting no. The proposition includes giving state and local police the power to arrest individuals crossing the border illegally outside of ports of entry.
The proposition also allows state judges to order deportations, making it a class 6 felony to submit false papers to an employer and a class 2 felony for anyone who crosses the border and is found to have caused the death of someone through the sale of fentanyl.
This decision comes with President-elect Trump’s hard-on immigration plans, which he has said include mass deportations and “closing the border.”
The Associated Press also called the race between House of Representatives candidates Juan Ciscomani and Kirsten Engel on Nov. 13. With Ciscomani’s victory, this race officially pushed the Republicans over the majority for the U.S. House.
Ciscomani has close ties with former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and ran his campaign on more secure border enforcement. This is the second time that Engel has lost a race to Ciscomani.
The race for Pima County sheriff has officially been called but triggered a recount, voted on by the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Sheriff Chris Nanos and corrections lieutenant Heather Lappin were in a tight race, with Nanos ahead of Lappin by 495 votes or about 0.1%. Pima County requires a recount when the margin is less than or equal to 0.5%.
Nanos, the current Pima County sheriff, has been put under pressure for placing Lappin on administrative leave days before the election. People have also been calling out Nanos’ corruption in past terms, with Pima County supervisors calling for his censure.
Adelita Grijalva won her race against Tucson Unified School District Board of Supervisors Val Romero in a landslide victory. She was running for Board of Supervisors District 5. Grijalva won with 73.7% of the vote, and Romero, who ran as an Independent, lost with 26.3% of the vote.
Incumbent Matt Heinz won his election against John Backer with 61.8% of the vote. Both election winners were part of the Democratic Party and covered most of the Tucson area.
Incumbent Gabriella Cãzares-Kelly also won the election for Pima County Recorder with 59.2% of the vote. She has held office since January 2021. She ran against Republican Dominic Campbell-Gonzalez.
Ravi Shah, Sadie Shaw and Natalie Luna Rosa will all remain on the TUSD school board. Allison Pratt, Christopher King and Callie Basham Tippett will also remain on the Vail Unified School District Governing Board. At Catalina Foothills School District, Jackson Eileen will remain the President of the school board for another 2-year term. Also at CFSD, the board elected two new members, Jacquelyn Davoli and Tom Logue.
In the presidential race, Pima County remained blue, as it has in past years, while at the national and state levels, Arizona has shifted to the right.
All seven swing states turned red in Trump’s favor, but several of these swing states and others voted for Democratic governors, senators and other elected officials. Reasons for this shift are still up for discussion and the motivations behind voters’ decisions will continue to unfold.
Until then, local, state and national governments are preparing for new administrations, ready for the new leadership changes to come in January.
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