Tucson council incumbents Santa Cruz, Cunningham advance to general election

Two Tucson City Council incumbents up for reelection will move on to the November general election to face voters citywide, after being chosen by Democratic voters within their specific wards in Tuesday’s primary.

Lane Santa Cruz will face Republican Victoria Lem while Paul Cunningham will be up against Republican Ernie Shack and Libertarian Pendleton Spicer in the Nov. 7 election.

Santa Cruz, the west-side Ward 1 council member, won the support of 63% of voters in the primary while challenger Miguel Ortega gained about 37% of the vote, unofficial vote tallies show.

Ward 2 Council Member Paul Cunningham, on the northeast side, took about 77% of the votes counted so far while his challenger, political newcomer Lisa Nutt, had about 23%.

Both challengers have conceded in the primary races.

The unofficial results represent 129 of 144 precincts reporting from the ballots received by Tucson’s city clerk through mail, and more results will likely be released later this week, according to the City Clerk’s Office. Voters could drop off their ballots at drop boxes throughout the city up to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

In the primary election, voters could only vote for nominees running for the office of the ward they live in. By contrast, all city voters will elect council members in the upcoming general election.

Tucson has 127,389 registered Democrats, 59,936 Republicans, 2,363 Libertarians and 97,840 other registered voters, according to the Pima County Recorder’s Office.

“Sweat equity”

Santa Cruz, who is seeking their second term on the City Council, said they are proud of their primary campaign, which consisted of knocking on nearly 22,000 doors and making 5,000 calls to voters.

“It took a lot of sweat equity from so many community members to make that happen,” Santa Cruz said. The general election “is the next hurdle to get through, but I feel like we’ll have a solid campaign citywide to get us through the finish line.”

Santa Cruz significantly outraised their opponent, who criticized them for accepting campaign contributions from out-of-state donors and attorneys tied to a controversial west-side development at La Cholla and 36th. Santa Cruz has said the majority of their campaign donations represent local support and that Ortega’s late campaign finance reports present transparency issues.

Santa Cruz previously worked as an instructor at the University of Arizona’s Department of Mexican American Studies, but now focuses fulltime on City Council and advocacy work. If reelected, Santa Cruz wants to increase the supply of affordable housing and continue providing resources to the region’s unsheltered population.

In conceding Tuesday night, Ortega acknowledged his campaign suffered by being severely outraised financially by Santa Cruz. However, he said his coalition of supporters through neighborhoods, unions and political figures “broadened” throughout the race.

“This coalition is not going to go away. We’re only stronger, and that’s something that we realized here,” Ortega said. “All the money was really hard to compete with, but we raised a lot of issues.”

“Got to keep moving forward”

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In the Ward 2 race, Nutt received more than $80,000 from outside realty-related agencies, but Cunningham outraised his opponent by nearly $20,000 in individual contributions, according to each candidate’s last campaign finance reports.

Cunningham said he congratulates his opponent for “running a very good campaign,” but “We just got to get back to work” in Ward 2.

“The job’s not over. I still have a general election,” he said. “It’s humbling to get that type of support, but we just got to keep moving forward.”

Cunningham, a teacher at Gridley Middle School, is seeking his fourth term in office. If reelected in November, Cunningham hopes to continue advancing local neighborhood and park improvements, water conservation efforts and advocating for disability rights.

Nutt said while she’s disappointed with the results, she “couldn’t be happier or more proud with our campaign.”

“I had the opportunity to talk about the issues facing Tucson & Ward 2,” Nutt said in an email. “I enjoyed meeting people on the campaign trail and want to thank my family, friends and supporters for the great effort they put into our campaign. I look forward to continuing to work to find solutions to the issues and concerns of our community.”

Next up for voters

Ward 1: Republican Victoria Lem, Santa Cruz’s only opponent in the general election, is a realtor who serves as president of the Tucson Realtors Charitable Foundation. If elected, she said her biggest priority is to “unify the citizens of Tucson” and that she would put funding toward local nonprofits to address homelessness.

Ward 2: Republican Ernie Shack, one of Cunningham’s general election challengers, is a transportation provider for a nonprofit that provides supportive housing to homeless veterans. If elected, his top three priorities are fiscal responsibility, infrastructure and supporting law enforcement.

Pendleton Spicer, the Libertarian candidate in Ward 2, is a local musician who describes herself as an “energy healer.” She said the greatest issue Tucson faces is “divisiveness” and supports reducing government. Spicer said homelessness and climate change are concerns but that “the powers that be have made a bigger deal out of climate change than it really is.”

Ward 4: Council Member Nikki Lee, another Democratic incumbent, will face Republican Ross Kaplowitch in the general election.

Lee lists priorities as the delivery of “high-quality, reliable core services” to residents, as well as public safety and infrastructure investment, housing affordability, homelessness, climate change and water conservation.

Kaplowitch cites priorities of supporting first responders, addressing police staffing and addressing crime, homelessness and drug abuse.

Mayor: Democratic Mayor Regina Romero also faces reelection. Running for a second term, she faces Independent Ed Ackerley, Republican Janet Wittenbraker and Libertarian Arthur Kerschen in November.

Romero has said her to priorities are to “keep Tucson safe, affordable, sustainable and economically prosperous.”

Ackerley has emphasized public safety, Tucson Police Department staffing and resources, and combatting crime and the fentanyl epidemic.

Wittenbraker has listed crime prevention, addressing homelessness, rebuilding infrastructure, fiscal responsibility and water conservation.

Kerschen has called for supporting free market principles in city government operations, making law enforcement a top priority and “freeing small businesses to operate effectively.”

The last day to register to vote for the general election is Tuesday, Oct. 10. To check your voter registration status visit: Recorder.Pima.gov/Register.