2023 city elections: Meet the candidates for Tucson City Council Ward 2

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.

Current Ward 2 City Council Member Paul Cunningham is seeking re-election. He will face Democrat Lisa Nutt in the primary election. Republican Ernie Shack and Libertarian Pendleton Spicer are also running for the seat.

In the primary election, voters can only vote for council members running for the office of 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.

Paul Cunningham

Age: 48

Occupation: Teacher at Gridley Middle School

Party: Democrat

Cunningham is seeking his fourth term as a City Council member after being appointed to the Ward 2 office in 2010 and elected in 2011. He’s a former juvenile probation officer and has been a public school teacher for over 10 years.

Throughout the last four years, the council member said he’s “most proud of getting us through the pandemic minimizing the damage inflicted.” The focus now, Cunningham said, is dealing with pandemic-related consequences such as housing shortages and the growing unsheltered population.

If re-elected, he said one of his focuses would be “to have a more functional service-oriented government on the east side” by creating a “one-stop shop” for city services such as water, police and fire in east Tucson. Cunningham also hopes to continue local neighborhood improvements; he said his office has made significant headway on building playgrounds, recreational fields and splash pads.

Learn more at: cunninghamforcouncil.com

Lisa Nutt

Age: 52

Occupation: Realtor

Party: Democrat

Nutt grew up in Douglas and has been a small business owner and a licensed real estate agent since 2018. She previously served as president of the National Association of Women Business Owners and conducts local financial literacy workshops.

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The candidate’s priorities are housing, public safety and economic development. The impetus for running for council, Nutt said, is because “Right now, cannot say that my boys have a future here. And instead of standing on the sidelines, I decided to enter the arena.”

Nutt said she hopes to bring her realty experience to City Council to implement affordable housing policies and would push for better staffing and morale for the Tucson Police Department. She said she would provide varying viewpoints to the council that currently lacks “oppositional information.”

Learn more at: here4uinward2.com

Ernie Shack

Age: 77

Occupation: Transportation provider at Esperanza En Escalante

Party: Republican

Shack is currently a transportation provider for a nonprofit that provides supportive housing to homeless veterans. He previously served in the Army during the Vietnam War and then worked in the photo industry, sales and facilities management. Shack said he doesn’t consider himself a politician but “a concerned citizen who cares greatly in correcting the course we’re currently on for the betterment of all Tucsonans.”

If elected, his top three priorities are fiscal responsibility, infrastructure and supporting law enforcement.

Pendleton Spicer

Age: 77

Occupation: Musician

Party: Libertarian

Spicer currently works as a musician playing the Native American flute at the Ritz Carlton and previously worked in elementary education. She also describes herself as an “energy healer” and said, “Mostly what’s going on with people is that their energy gets stuck somewhere and causes disease and discomfort.”

Although she’s been a registered Democrat most of her life, Spicer said she became a Libertarian to spread the message of “personal freedoms, medical freedom, self-responsibility.”

She said the greatest issue Tucson faces is “divisiveness” and supports reducing government. Spicer said homelessness and climate change are also concerns but that “the powers that be have made a bigger deal out of climate change than it really is.”