Incumbent Sheriff Chris Nanos has won the election for Pima County sheriff, following a recount of a razor-thin margin in the highly contested race.
Judge Kyle Bryson announced the results Friday, Dec. 6 at the Pima County Superior Court.
Nanos won the recount by 243,891 votes over opponent Heather Lappin who had 243,410, cementing his lead of 481 votes and ushering him into a second full term as sheriff for the next four years. The final results of the election had showed a lead of 495 votes for Nanos.
“It’s clear that nearly half of Pima County voters desire a change in law enforcement leadership focus,” Lappin told Arizona Luminaria. “I am willing to be part of this and to assist leadership in whatever way I can.”
Following the announcement, Bryson ordered that Nanos was elected as the county sheriff.
The recount closes the door on a race that erupted into controversy in October after early voting had begun, when Nanos placed his opponent Heather Lappin on leave from her department job in the final weeks of the campaign, along with union leader and vocal Nanos opponent Sgt. Aaron Cross.
“I firmly believe that Sheriff Nanos’s decision to place me on administrative leave influenced the election outcome, and tarnished my reputation,” Lappin said. “In spite of using his official role to do this, Sheriff Nanos will now serve another term as Pima County Sheriff.”
Despite the results, Lappin said she will continue working with leadership toward improvement.
“As we move forward, I hope that Sheriff Nanos will decide to prioritize the well-being and safety of our community, address the internal issues plaguing our department, and work towards healing the divisions that have grown over the past few years,” she said.
In a statement from the sheriff’s department, Nanos thanked Pima County residents “for their ongoing support and trust.”
Nanos said the department’s top priority is the community’s safety and the next months’ focus will be “on implementing new ideas and improvements to make our department even more effective and responsive to the needs of our citizens.”
He will start his new term overseeing Pima County on January 1, 2025, only weeks before president-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump’s campaign platform included a focus on the border, and in particular the promise of mass deportations.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is charged with responding to emergencies and reported crimes as well as running and maintaining the jail. The county also includes about 130 miles along the U.S.-México border, more than any other county in Arizona.
The sheriff oversees a budget of around $170 million with a total staff of around 1,500.
Background
The sheriff’s seat was the only race the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to recount. Nanos was leading Lappin by 495 votes with 100% of the ballots counted, according to Pima County official results.
A recount is automatically triggered when the vote difference between candidates is less than or equal to one-half of one percent, or 0.5%, of the total votes cast, according to state law.
Recounts don’t typically change election results, according to the Associated Press.
The county elections department finished the recount Nov. 27, officials said. That involved running the 518,595 ballots processed for the election through the tabulation machines. In total, because the election involved a two-card ballot, more than one million cards were run through tabulators.
What to expect under Nanos
Nanos was first appointed to run the sheriff’s department in 2015 and served for a year. He ran for election the following year and lost to Republican Mark Napier.
Nanos ran again — again against Napier — and won in 2020, taking office in January of the following year. On top of his one full and one partial term as sheriff, he has a total of 40 years in the department. He regularly touts his diverse experience in the department.
“I’ve worked in every corner of this department,” Nanos told Arizona Luminaria.
In an Arizona Luminaria election guide in October, Nanos said he would leave the majority of immigration enforcement work to the federal government.
“We do everything we can to assist border patrol when they need it. We don’t want to do border patrol’s job,” Nanos said.
Nanos has most recently come under fire for his conduct during the election, including by Democratic local politicians who moved to endorse Lappin.
In October, after early voting had begun, Nanos placed Lappin on leave from her department job in the final weeks of the campaign, along with Cross.
On Nov. 12, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to request an outside investigation by the Arizona Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney General into Nanos’ actions.
The attorney general’s office told Arizona Luminaria they had received the request, but declined to comment further.
That motion is the second time in a little over a year that the board has requested an outside party review of actions taken by Nanos.
More context on Lappin
Lieutenant Heather Lappin ran on the need for community policing and for developing (or restoring) broad levels of trust — both within the department and the community.
She has a master’s degree in organizational leadership with an emphasis in criminal justice from Northern Arizona University. In total, Lappin has worked for the sheriff’s department for 19 years.
“The power of law enforcement comes from the people,” was how Lappin put it during a debate this fall, later emphasizing to Arizona Luminaria the importance of listening to your community.
During the campaign, Lappin also changed her stance on how much local officials should cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and said she didn’t support the sheriff’s department patrolling the border.
Proposition 314, a Republican-backed ballot measure approved by the Arizona Legislature that allows state and local police to arrest and jail migrants, and authorizes local judges to order deportations, among other provisions, was passed by voters in November.
Lappin told Arizona Luminaria that, even with the proposition passed, the sheriff’s office wouldn’t have the manpower to patrol the border.
“I wasn’t in favor of it because it will have no impact on Pima county,” she said. “Even passed, I don’t believe we will see a large impact in Pima County.”
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