The makeup of Tucson City Council is set to change for the first time in years, as early election results show two new members, Selina Barajas and Miranda Schubert, joining the council and incumbent Kevin Dahl holding onto his Ward 3 seat.
This year’s city council elections switched up a third of its members, introducing two new women into the mix — Barajas representing Ward 5 and Schubert Ward 6. Women will now hold four of the six seats on the Tucson City Council, creating a female majority.
Tucson’s council also had four women members in 2005 and 2007 but this will be the first time in Tucson history that the council majority and the mayor — Regina Romero — are women.
Topics of concern for voters included affordable housing, homelessness and balancing the city budget while keeping services and programs that Tucsonans value.
Proposition 417, a proposal to update the city’s general plan, was passing with 62.58% of the vote.
The Democrats held an election night watch party at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson where cheers erupted when initial results of New York City’s mayoral race came in, showing Zohran Mamdani with a 12 point lead over rival Andrew Cuomo.
The Republican candidates held separate watch parties.
“¡Buenas tardes!” Adelita Grijalva yelled, taking the stage at Hotel Congress in front of the candidates poised to win. “A year from now we can shift the whole direction of this nation,” Grijalva said. “These kinds of local races are how we’re going to get people excited.” She said the agenda of all three candidates was “putting working people first.”
She added that as a mom of TUSD students and a former school board member, “Thank you for investing in public education. I’m just so happy because this state does not invest in public education, so it is our responsibility. We have to do it. So thank you for people who turned out.”
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“We have to make sure this momentum carries us to the midterms and beyond.”
The crowd began shouting “Swear her in! Swear her in! Swear her in!” as she left the stage.
At 36 days and counting, U.S. Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva has now waited longer than any member of Congress in the past 12 years to be sworn in — a delay Speaker Mike Johnson says will continue until the House returns from the shutdown.
Arizona State Democratic Chair Charlene Fernandez was the first speaker of the night. She told the crowd that “the wind is at our backs!” She said, “We start now, here in Arizona, we are going to elect Dems up and down the ballot.” She said that they hoped, as they always hope, to take over the Arizona state legislature.
Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz, citing the Zapatistas — the Mexican revolutionary group — that “we need to build a world where many worlds fit.” She said Tucson needs to follow that model to welcome all people into the city. She also noted that this will be the first time in city council history that it will be majority female. Santa Cruz said Mayor Romero is representing Tucson at a mayoral conference and is sorry not to be present.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, from Arizona’s District 3, took the stage after Santa Cruz. She praised local Democrats, saying, “The only path to a House majority [in 2026] runs through Arizona.”
Deja Foxx, the former candidate for Arizona’s CD7 congressional seat, made an appearance. She has been traveling the country giving talks and trainings, but is glad to be back home in Tucson. She told Arizona Luminaria, “I want folks to celebrate our wins when we get them, but we also need to come back to why we do this. People’s SNAP cards aren’t getting filled. Our neighbors are struggling to put food on the table. That’s who we need to be working for.” She added, “Local politics matters so much. That’s where we’re going to find hope.”
Ward 6 elects Miranda Schubert as new council member
Schubert was beating opponent Republican Jay Tolkoff with 67.2% of the vote, according to unofficial election results.
Schubert, a Democrat, will take over the Ward 6 seat previously held by Steve Kozachik, who resigned in early 2024. Former council member Karin Uhlich was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term but did not run for election, making Schubert the ward’s first newly-elected council member in nearly 15 years.
The ward covers much of Tucson’s Democratic-leaning midtown, from West University to Colonia Del Valle.
Schubert said she was humbled and honored to receive the community’s trust.
Now that the campaign was behind them, she said “the real work begins.”
She said she wanted to build a Tucson that works for everyone. She heard from Tucsonans on the campaign that “you want to leave it in better shape for future generations.” She added that people wanted to focus on “protecting water, protecting fare-free transit, and protecting the arts and culture that define us.”
After the victory speeches Schubert greeted her supporters who held up a Democratic Socialists of America sign, chanting “Public Power! Public Power! Public Power!”
Schubert told Arizona Luminaria that she was excited to learn the ropes. Her priorities as she takes office are focusing on the streets, public transit, and homelessness. “Our streets are incredibly dangerous,” she said, adding that there are “research-proven ways to address that.”
She said she was a “coalition builder,” and looked forward to working with a diversity of constituents, as well as with some of her colleagues on the council who not differ in policy approach.
“I’m interested in forming a citizens advisory council,” she said. She said the idea was still nascent, but she wanted to involve residents more in politics and decision making.
On the ban of encampments in city washes, Schubert said she wants to “bring it back for a discussion.”
Jeanne Lukasko, 25, a member of Tucson Democrat Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, was one of the early attendees of the Democratic watch party at Hotel Congress. Talking over the Village People blasting out of the outdoor speakers on the patio, Lukasko said they were out in support of Schubert, who Tucson’s DSA had endorsed.
Schubert’s victory comes after a previous primary loss against Kozachik in 2021.
Schubert has a community-organizing background and has served on the Tucson Board of Adjustment and the Complete Streets Coordinating Councils. She also helped launch the University of Arizona labor union.
City politics works best when it is “responsive, inclusive and built on trust,” she said Tuesday night.
In a nondescript bar in an industrial area of central Tucson, Republican supporters lined the narrow walkways of the Silver Room. Most chatted as a person’s karaoke rendition of “Come Together” by The Beatles blasted through the crowd and reverberated through the street.
“That matches what we were seeing,” Jay Tolkoff said as he looked at preliminary results showing him receiving about a third of the votes.
As a Republican candidate running in a Democratic majority ward, Tolkoff said winning would be surprising.
“I wouldn’t say it’s like winning the lottery,” he said with a chuckle but added that no matter the outcome, he knows he made a difference. “I hit a nerve with a lot of people, you know, like in a good way.”
Tolkoff said people, including a current city council member, are already asking him to get more involved in city policy making.
“There’s people that are calling me and asking my opinion and asking me to sit on different boards and things like that because it’s like, ‘Jeez, this guy actually makes sense,’” he said.
He also cites the Safe City initiative as a direct result of a press conference he held with the Teamsters.
Tolkoff said he wants to stay positive but isn’t quite optimistic with the city’s trajectory if he doesn’t win.
“Progress is typically good unless you’re going towards a cliff,” he said. “Sometimes you do have to just put on the brakes and say, ‘Is this really going in the direction that we need to go?’ And I don’t think that that’s going to happen.”
Ward 5 elects Selina Barajas as new council member
Barajas, a lifelong Tucson resident and community advocate, will succeed longtime council member Richard Fimbres. Fimbres retired earlier this year after more than a decade in office.
At Hotel Congress Tuesday night, Selina Barajas began by saying that “Together, we made history.” She was “proud to be the first woman ever to win in Ward 5.”
“Our community deserves more,” she said. She looks forward to getting Ward 5 the attention it deserves. “Southside!” she called out, to applause.
A woman shouted out, “We love you Selina!” Barajas yelled that she loved her back.
Barajas was uncontested after beating opponents Chris Elsner and Jesse Lugo in the Democratic primary, despite Fimbres’ endorsement of Lugo.
The Ward 5 seat currently is held by Rocque Perez, who was appointed to fill in for Fimbres after his retirement but did not seek election.
Barajas said she was “trying to be as visible as I can.” She said she needs to make sure people know that her office exists. “Our community is hurting,” she said, and “They don’t know who is in office who can help them.” She said she wanted to focus on “community-based solutions.”
As for free public transit, she said she still needed to study the issue and talk to her constituents. She wanted to ensure “accessible, safe transit.”
Barajas studied urban planning at UCLA, inspired by Lorraine Lee, a Chicana urban planner and fellow Tucsonan. After working in nonprofits and city government in Los Angeles for 10 years, Barajas returned to Tucson in 2018.
Barajas has centered her campaign on affordable housing, safe and accessible neighborhoods, and transit improvements. She’s emphasized her deep south side ties and work with the community across Ward 5.
Ward 3 returns Kevin Dahl to city council
Ward 3 will keep Democratic council member Kevin Dahl for another term after Tuesday’s election. Dahl was beating Republican challenger Janet “JL” Wittenbraker, according to early results, with 67.7% of the vote.
Dahl said of Schubert that she may be less experienced than his other colleagues, but “that can be an advantage.” He added that he was excited to work with both her and Barajas.
Dahl kept his election night comments from the stage at Hotel Congress short. He said he was “grateful to be a Democrat surrounded by Democrats” and that he was excited to work with the new councilmembers. “Aren’t we grateful for living in a blueberry in a sea of tomato soup?”
Dahl ended by trying to rally the crowd: “We have to defeat [Rep. Juan] Ciscomani …. We have to defeat the monster who rules in DC.”
Dahl became the Democratic candidate after a recount against fellow Democratic opponent Sadie Shaw. Dahl beat out Shaw by only 19 votes with a final count of 3,296 votes for Dahl and 3,277 for Shaw.
Dahl first won his seat in 2021 and with this reelection, he continues to push his platform of expanding housing options, improving transit, and preserving Tucson’s natural environment.
Wittenbraker, Dahl’s opponent, had previously run for District 3 supervisor on the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2024 and Tucson mayor in 2023.
A blaring white marquee sign read “JANET WITTENBRAKER ELECTION NIGHT PARTY” outside The Maverick club off Tanque Verde Road.
The room lit up red as Republican supporters gathered around the empty dance floor, chatting in casual attire. Janet Wittenbraker alternated between greeting attendees and being greeted as the crowd of approximately 50 awaited the night’s results.
“I believe that there’s been too much of a democratic consensus in Tucson. I feel like the city has been getting progressively worse,” Lala Mercado, 22, said matter-of-factly. Despite how bad other places like California are getting, Mercado said, people don’t come to Tucson. “Tucson’s not attracting people. And we have a general problem with brain drain.”
Mercado is frustrated at the lack of diversity in candidates and feels that it does those with non-majority political leanings in the city a disservice.
“It seems to me that while Tucson could be, let’s say, two-thirds Democrat, pretty much everybody who’s elected in the municipal level is Democrat. And so at that point you’re not representing one-third of the people,” he said.
While Mercado said he’s not hopeful the two Republican candidates running for city council are going to win the election, he hopes that seeing a Republican candidate in this local election and the success of candidates like Mamdani will be a wake up call that Democrats can’t stay complacent.
“I would like to thank that Janet is a part of a bigger wave that will move the discussion towards holding elected office leaders to higher account that, even if they stay Democrat, they will at least heed the warnings of electoral results,” he said.
WIttenbraker said she’s a winner no matter the outcome.
“My mission all along has been about engaging voters, re-engaging Tucson,” she said. Wittenbraker has been so steadfast with her goal of getting people to vote, she said her campaign team had to ask her to keep talking about herself and her party.
“We all need to vote. We all need to get re-invested in our local elections and that’s what I believe God has called on me to do,” she said.
Preliminary results show Wittenbraker received 32% of the votes. Despite this being her third time running in the last three years, she hasn’t ruled out running again.
“I will never say never,” Wittenbraker said, but added she’d also be happy to serve in a supportive role. “But I believe I can add a great deal of value to future candidates by helping them with the lessons I’ve learned.”
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