This year, Tucson’s voters will elect the mayor and City Council members representing Ward 1, Ward 2 and Ward 4. The primary election takes place Aug. 1, followed by the general election Nov. 7.
In Ward 1, Democrat Lane Santa Cruz is seeking re-election for a second term to the council and faces Democrat Miguel Ortega in the primary election. Republican Victoria Lem is also running for the seat.
In the primary election, voters can only vote for council members running for the ward they live in, but all city voters elect council members in the general election. City Council members serve four-year terms with no term limits.
Check your voter registration status at recorder.pima.gov/RegisteringToVote.
Victoria Lem
Age: 43
Occupation: Realtor
Party: Republican
Lem is a native Tucsonan who’s worked as a realtor for nearly nine years and serves as president of the Tucson Realtors Charitable Foundation. She said her biggest priority if elected is to “unify the citizens of Tucson.”
Lem fears for the future of her two children given the rate of crime she said she’s seen increase over the years. Her first priority if elected to City Council would be to “stop enabling some of the crime,” by “funding areas where there’s open drug use,” such as the homeless encampment at Estevan Park.
She said the city should instead put funding toward local nonprofits to address homelessness. “We need to come alongside them, and not try to recreate the wheel, and provide some services to our community,” she said.
Miguel Ortega
Age: 56
Occupation: Counselor for the American Lung Association
Party: Democrat
Ortega has worked as a social worker and counselor for the past 30 years and is running for City Council to “provide leadership … that takes the decision making process out of back room politics and, instead, includes and encourages the community to be part of the decisions that affect our daily lives. “
If elected, Ortega’s top priorities involve providing security for working families by supporting better wages, access to clean and safe water and enhancing community policing efforts. He said the most urgent challenges Tucson faces are a lack of affordable housing, constituent services and “measurable solutions and action” for issues like climate change.
Ortega previously worked as the chief of staff for former Ward 3 City Council Member Karin Uhlich, where he worked to establish Buy Local Day. He’s currently the vice president of the Ironwood Ridge Neighborhood Association.
Learn more at: Ortegaforcouncil.com
Lane Santa Cruz
Age: 38
Occupation: Full-time City Council member
Party: Democrat
Incumbent Santa Cruz is seeking a second term on City Council after being elected to the position in 2019. They previously worked as an Instructor at the University of Arizona’s Department of Mexican American Studies but now focuses full-time on City Council and advocacy work.
Throughout Santa Cruz’s first year in office, they focused on implementing racial equity in Tucson’s government, creating affordable housing strategies and supporting a fare-free transit system. They said their first term was an “exercise in policymaking” amid the allocation of federal COVID-19 relief dollars and the creation of strategic plans for spending them.
If re-elected, Santa Cruz wants to focus on increasing the supply of affordable housing and providing resources to the region’s unsheltered population. One of the biggest issues Tucson faces, Santa Cruz said, is the ongoing drought and managing the region’s water supply.
Learn more at: lalanefortucson.com
