Live Election Coverage in Tucson: Relief at apparent passage of Prop. 139

Relief at apparent passage of Prop. 139

10:15 p.m.: Speaking at the Democratic Party watch party on the apparent passage of Prop. 139, 36-year-old Chelsea Bowdren said the importance of the abortion-rights constitutional amendment is “hard to put into words.”

“It’s beyond amazing,” she said. “We shouldn’t have had to get to this point, but it’s beautiful to see the page we’re on now, when women have the autonomy to make their own decisions.”

— Emily Bregel

Bomb threats fail to obstruct voting, count

10 p.m.: Bomb threats were emailed to multiple elections offices across the state, including Pima, Apache, Pinal, Maricopa and Cochise counties, said Pima County communications director Mark Evans.

One was received pertaining to the Pima County Recorder’s Office at 240 N. Stone Avenue, and other went to the elections department at 6550 S Country Club Road, he said.

Threats went to Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, the Pima County Recorder and another went to Elections Director Constance Hargrove.

However, Evans said, the threat sent to Hargrove showed up in her spam folder and was only discovered by the county’s IT security team.

Because the threats used the same language and were very similar to others across the state, Tucson police were fine with operations continuing while officers checked the respective buildings, Evans told the Star, and those sweeps didn’t disrupt the vote-counting processes or voting at the locations.

— Charles Borla

'YMCA' and a cheer for Trump Arizona lead

8:30 p.m.: At the Republican watch party at the Viscount Suite hotel, an isolated dance party broke out as the speakers blasted YMCA by the Village People, which was played constantly at Trump rallies during the campaign.

Then, a big cheer as fresh state numbers are shown on the national broadcast. “Trump up in Arizona!” someone announces.

— Henry Brean

At the Democratic watch party at the Hotel Congress downtown, Jake Martin, 21, who lost in the local Democratic primary to Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott, said he came out to support all Democratic candidates, including former rival Scott. Martin said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about Harris’ chances. Especially at the national level, the stakes couldn’t be higher, he said, as candidates are running who are threats to democracy.

“It’s so important that we protect our democracy from these threats,” he said.

Watch-party attendee Amy McNulty said she thinks Harris will win but she’s worried about how Trump and his followers will react if that happens.

“It’s a palpable fear that bad things are gonna happen and will override all the fantastic feelings and emotions if she wins,” she said. “It’s almost no win.”

Madison Peterson, operations and outreach manager for the Engel campaign, said about 500 people RSVP’d for the watch party ongoing Tuesday night at Hotel Congress’ patio. Speakers will include Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, Mayor Regina Romero, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover and other Arizona Democrats, as attendees wait for results. Since Harris took over as Democratic nominee for president, “the energy has shifted,” Peterson said. “The momentum is unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

Kim Cartwright, 37, who attended the watch party with her 10-year-old daughter, said abortion rights are among her top election issues.She grew up in West Virginia and said the fact that she had more reproductive freedom then than her daughter does in Arizona in 2024 is “disgusting.”

Of Harris’ chances Cartwright said, “I’m nervous but I’m incredibly hopeful.” While canvassing door-to-door, she encountered “a surprising amount of Republicans” planning to vote against Trump. “They couldn’t stand what he’s done to the party.”

Harris campaign volunteer Cody Christensen, 35, said he felt “pretty confident” in Harris’ chances. Reproductive freedom is one of his key campaign issues. Christensen said he knocked on doors for Democrats on Tuesday morning and encountered many people who’d already voted, and some who were undecided. The younger undecided voters said their hesitation stemmed from dissatisfaction over how the Biden-Harris administration has handled the war in Gaza, he said.

— Emily Bregel

And at the Republican watch party at the Viscount Suite Hotel, the sound was turned down on the TVs in favor of some patriotic music, but a cheer still went up from the crowd at the county GOP watch party in Tucson as the screen showed Sen. Ted Cruz winning in Texas.

— Henry Brean

'A well-oiled machine'

5:15 p.m.: Outside the Oro Valley Library, Pima County’s largest polling site, dozens of impassioned volunteers from both the Democratic and Republican parties preached their causes until the final seconds before voters made their way inside. 

Most stayed the allotted 75 feet from the door. Others needed to be reminded.

Some wrote bible verses on their cars in paint. Some passed out pamphlets and others got people to stop and chat, if they were lucky. 

“Would you like a list of Democratic candidates to vote for?” a woman next to a Harris sign asked a man passing by.

“No. The internet is available. Thanks,” he said, swiftly walking past the hoopla surrounding him.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Inside the library, Ralph, the Inspector at site 107, had things working like a well-oiled machine. Of his 18 election judges working Tuesday, 13 have spent at least the last four elections at the Oro Valley Library with Ralph. As a result, they know how to get voters in, out, and on their way. In fact, they could probably use a larger room.

Voters were consistently in and out since 6 a.m., Ralph said. By around noon, more than 800 people had come in and out of that voting area receiving a sticker, and a voice in a tight election. 

Others came to drop off early voting ballots, which Ralph said they had two bins full of. 

There were young people, and older folks, and dads with babies on their hip. Some people drove, some people biked, while others took the bus to their local polling places to exercise their rights. 

At the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Oro Valley, things have been “super chill,” one volunteer said when asked about any problems at the polls. She said the lines have been “fairly consistent” and they are seeing the same clientele they usually see voting during elections.

“We did have a first-time voter!” another volunteer chimed in, wearing pride on her face. 

Like the Oro Valley Library, volunteers stood just outside their 75-foot boundary to pass out voting paraphernalia to those headed inside. 

“But the marshal keeps having to keep them behind that barrier,” a volunteer said. 

One woman who voted at Our Lady of Fatima Church was treated with donuts and coffee alongside other voters who arrived around 8 a.m.

But there’s no relaxing for Election Day judges and Inspectors like Ralph who will be putting in some major hours election night.

“We start the day at 5 a.m. and we leave….well, whenever we get done.”

— Erika Wurst

First-time voter applauded at Oro Valley library

5 p.m.: Around 30 people waited in line to cast their ballots at the Oro Valley Public Library at 4:15 p.m. They were greeted at the poling location by several people set up just outside the 75-foot electioneering limit to protest against Proposition 139 with a banner featuring graphic photos of aborted fetuses.

University of Arizona freshman Campbell Phillips cast her first-ever ballot at the library. The 18-year-old biomechanical engineering student said she was most excited to vote in favor of Proposition 139.

After Phillips cast her ballot, an election worker loudly announced "first-time voter," drawing cheers and applause from others at the polling station.

"That was fun," Phillips said.

"That was really sweet," said her mom, Stephanie Phillips, who accompanied her to the polls.

The mother and daughter said they didn't compare notes about how they voted, and they weren't really planning to. They were more interested in talking about what they were going to eat during their post-voting dinner at Olive Garden.

To ease the flow of traffic to the library at La Cañada Drive and Naranja Drive, the Town of Oro Valley paused its road construction project on La Cañada for the day, leaving all four travel lanes open for Election Day voters.

— Henry Brean

Heavy turnout slows voting

4:40 p.m.: Heavy turnout, a long ballot and some new procedures were combining to produce long lines at some Pima County polling places.

In 2020, roughly 50,000 people voted in-person on Election Day. As of about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, that number had been surpassed, according to Mark Evans, Pima County communication director. 

A voter at Dove of Peace Church, 665 W. Roller Coaster Road, said the lines were “the longest I’ve ever seen.” Longtime Tucsonan (and retired Arizona Daily Star reporter) Joe Burchell said that while turnout may be a factor, a big part of the wait seemed to be because of the county’s new consolidated polling place system. “Once you get inside, the door check-in and ballot printing process takes forever," he said.

But Evans said no major problems were being encountered — just lots of people wanting to vote.

With regards to Dove of the Peace Church, he said, "that particular vote center has only had 460 “check-ins” as of about 4:15 p.m. Long lines could have happened if they all showed up at the same time, he said, but added that there has been much higher turnout for in-person voting at other locations. For example, Evans said, Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Tucson had over 1,000 check-ins by the same time, while the Marana Municipal Complex is nearing that figure.

Evans said County voting locations have back-up printers on-hand if any technical issues arise or if a toner/ink cartridge needs to be replaced. The county also has mobile “troubleshooting teams,” Evans said, that go out to voting centers if issues arise.

He added that voting centers saw a surge in the morning, around lunch and again in the afternoon.

“So far it’s gone very smoothly,” Evans said. “We haven't had any major issues to speak of.”

— Charles Borla

2 p.m.: Hi, Arizona Daily Star readers! Welcome to our live local election blog. Starting early tomorrow, as live in-person voting continues throughout the day, and as polls close and results come in, this is your spot to keep up with minute-by-minute developments. We’ll make sure you’re updated with the latest news at a glance, and we’ll link to the Star’s stories with both as-it-happens news and in-depth coverage. We’ll have photos and videos too as Southern Arizonans cast their ballots, the counting begins and politicians react to the results.

Keep refreshing this site and we’ll make sure you have the news as we get it. Let’s do this thing!

If you haven’t voted yet, here’s a look at the basic information you’ll need to make your vote count.

Meanwhile, if you just can’t wait to read every bit of election info, here are a few links to tide you over until Election Day:

• Arizona releases the list of voters affected by citizenship-proof glitch
• Trump, Harris make final pitch to voters
• Getting creative with I-voted stickers
• How can the Associated Press call winners so quickly?
• Harris, Trump flooding phones with last-minute texts