Democrats Selina Barajas in Ward 5 and Miranda Schubert in Ward 6 claimed victory in their primary bids for Tucson City Council after Tuesday night’s unofficial results were released by the City of Tucson.
In Ward 3, Democratic incumbent Kevin Dahl had a slight lead over Sadie Shaw.
Dahl told Arizona Luminaria he considered the tally “a victory that needs to be verified.” The math was on his side, he said.
Shaw is waiting until every vote and voice has been accounted for, she said.
“Despite the early delivery of my opponent’s victory speech, I do agree with one thing he said: ‘every vote counts.’”
The primary vote tally will be updated Monday, Aug. 11, the Tucson City Clerk’s office said, adding the Tuesday primary “went well.”
The council seats will be decided in the Nov. 4 general election.
In South Tucson, Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela and city council members Brian Flagg and Cesar Aguirre retained their seats, according to unofficial results from the Pima County Elections Department.
Pima County should have all the ballots by Friday, Aug. 8, Pima County Elections Director Constance Hargrove said via email. The results will be sent to South Tucson to certify, she said.
At Hotel Congress on Tuesday night, about 200 people gathered on a 100-degree evening for the Democratic Party city council primary watch party.
Addressing the crowd near 10 p.m., Barajas said she knocked on more than 13,000 doors to pull off her unofficial victory. Barajas arrived at the Democrats’ event after her own watch party at the Second Sky event center on the south side in Ward 5.
“I don’t take this position lightly,” she said. “The first thing is to listen to the community.”
An urban planner, Barajas said historically Ward 5 has been neglected, that it is the city’s hottest ward and has the lowest air quality, “and it is time to change that.” Early priorities for her will be to guarantee safe clean water and build in more green spaces.
In the Ward 6 race, Schubert told Arizona Luminaria her unofficial victory proves Ward 6 wants a progressive leader.
“I’ve been told, ‘Don’t be too progressive,’” Schubert said. “But it wasn’t risky to be progressive, it was winning.”
She was genuine and didn’t judge her constituents, she said. “Being progressive means trying different things. It means supporting the social safety net.”
“People are hungry for something else,” Schubert said, adding the “city council now has a progressive majority.”
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero took the stage after 9 p.m., waving at the crowd, leaning into the microphone and calling out, “Tucsonans have voted for bold leadership.”
Counting three Latinas possibly on the council — herself, Ward 1 councilwoman Lane Santa Cruz and Ward 5 primary leader Barajas — Romero said she was proud there would be five women on the council. That leadership would continue supporting free transit “and move boldly and progressively for our city,” Romero said.
“We will not let you down,” she said. “We will continue to be fighters for the agenda you want us to fight for.”
Adelita Grijalva opened the watch party and aimed to rally the crowd. “¡Buenas noches!” Grijalva called out. Coming off her recent primary win to fill the Congressional seat left open after the passing of her father, Raúl Grijlava, she said she was there to get the party fired up. “We want people to be excited about the Democratic Party, to get out the vote.”
Grijalva ended her short speech exhorting the crowd to give all the Democratic candidates a round of applause. It was hard to hear over the music that kicked in whether people clapped.
People ducked into the Hotel Congress lobby, where a woman referenced her phone for lyrics as she sang show songs at a pop-up piano bar.
Still waiting for results to come in past 8 p.m., about a dozen attendees hit the dance floor for the Cupid Shuffle, which has become something of a staple dance for Southern Arizona’s Democratic party.
Under Tucson’s unusual election system, the primary vote is limited to voters who are registered in the candidate’s party and in the ward in which they are running.
In the general election, voters citywide can punch the ballot on the complete slate of primary winners in all parties and all wards.
City Council Ward 3
Democrats Shaw and Dahl are locked in a tight race for Ward 3. Incumbent Dahl leads by only 138 votes— with 2,993. Shaw has 2,855 in early returns.
The winner will face Republican Janet Wittenbraker in November.
Dahl offers an environmentally-minded outlook with a focus on enforcing green city ordinances like requiring rain water harvesting plans for local businesses. A longtime nonprofit professional, Dahl previously was the executive director of the Tucson Audubon Society (now the Tucson Bird Alliance) and Native Seeds/SEARCH, a regional group working to preserve the genetic diversity of Southwestern Native American crops.
A Tucson Unified School District board member, Shaw, grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Ward 3 and pledges to work more with mutual aid groups on homelessness. If Shaw wins the city council seat, she may have to resign from the school board.
Wittenbracker previously worked in the city manager’s office and as a contract administrator for Raytheon. She has also run for mayor and Pima County Board of Supervisors previously. She promises an open door and a tougher approach to people selling drugs in public spaces in Tucson.
“Tucson is ready for change, and that change begins with embracing diverse perspectives. Voting strictly along party lines stifles progress,” she told Arizona Luminaria via text message Tuesday night. “Instead let’s prioritize policy and, more importantly, focus on finding solutions. Pointing out problems is not enough. It is time for meaningful dialog.”
City Council Ward 5
Barajas leads with 2,025 votes. Jesse Lugo has 1,189 while Christopher Elsner has 288.
The seat is open for the first time in 15 years after incumbent Richard Fimbres’ resignation in May. With no Republican candidates, the winner of the Democratic primary will likely win the seat in the Nov. 4 general election.
Barajas is a Tucson native, growing up on the southwest side. She studied urban planning at UCLA. After working in nonprofits and city government in Los Angeles for 10 years, Barajas returned to Tucson in 2018.
Barajas said several factors influenced her run for city council. Witnessing her daughter’s distress over the 2024 presidential election solidified her desire for a healthier environment for her children and then seeing only men initially announce their candidacy for Ward 5 made her feel the community deserved a more inclusive representative.
A first-time candidate, Elsner braved the heat in a suit and tie Tuesday night. He told Arizona Luminaria he was happy with his campaign.
“It was a net positive for me,” he said. “I’ll continue to serve the city of Tucson, whether that’s as a councilmember or in my role at UA.”
It was Lugo’s third time running for a political seat and second time running for Ward 5 city council member.
City Council Ward 6
Schubert leads with 5,254 votes, followed by Leighton Rockafellow Jr. with 2,536 and Jim Sinex has 324.
The winner will face Republican Jay Tolkoff in the general.
Schubert finished second to incumbent Steve Kozachik in the 2021 race. Her primary motivations for running for office are her experience helping start the labor union at the University of Arizona and her interest in the city budget and how money is spent, spurred by the 2020 George Floyd protests and increased scrutiny of public safety spending, she said.
Rockafellow and Sinex were each first-time candidates.
At the Congress party, Rockafellow stood up with his young son and gave a concession speech.
“I have absolutely fallen in love with Tucson all over again with this campaign,” he said.
South Tucson
The all-mail recall election was South Tucson’s third in 10 years.
Former Mayor Paul Diaz launched a recall of three officials: Valenzuela and city council members Flagg and Aguirre. All three officials will keep their seats.
At Hotel Congress Tuesday, Aguirre was called onto the stage and said what initially drove him to run for office a few years ago — dirty politics and corruption — sparked the recall.
“I really didn’t see myself as a politician a few years ago, but I was tired of those old politics. I had to step up,” Aguirre said. “We gotta come together, we gotta step up, and we gotta get back to work.”
Arizona Luminaria reporters Yana Kunichoff and Carolina Cuellar contributed to this report.
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