Trailing by well over 4,000 votes as of Wednesday afternoon, District 4 county supervisor candidate Marla Closen conceded that her opponent Steve Christy won the Republican primary contest.
“As an engineer, I would have to confirm statistically that Steve Christy has won the race for supervisor,” Closen quipped in an email to the Star.
John Backer, the third District 4 contender, was trailing far behind Christy and Closen with just 1,991 votes.
Christy far outraised his opponents since declaring his candidacy in February, taking in roughly $177,000 for the race.
He will face Green Party candidate Josh Reilly in the Nov. 8 general election. District 4 is heavily Republican with few registered Green Party members.
District 1 supervisor candidate John Winchester wasn’t as quick to throw in the towel, and said Wednesday morning that he was waiting for the results from still uncounted provisional and other ballots.
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As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, he was trailing Republican incumbent Ally Miller by more than 14 percent. On Facebook, Miller thanked her supporters and declared victory, writing “We did it!”
Election officials said a number of provisional ballots, so-called late early ballots and votes cast using touch-screen devices still had to be counted.
Elections Director Brad Nelson said his office would be counting the roughly 18,000 remaining ballots through the weekend.
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Contact: mwoodhouse@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @murphywoodhouse
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