In the Republican primary for Pima County sheriff, early election results show that Mark Napier is leading the race with nearly twice the votes of Terry Staten.
"I'm very gratified by these results, we ran a positive campaign on stayed on message," Napier said Tuesday night, after learning of the results. "I talked with a number of citizens' groups and members of the community, and I think that paid off."
Should he win, Napier will face current Sheriff Chris Nanos, in the general election.
"I'm going to stay positive and stay on message, and I invite Sheriff Nanos to stay focused on the issues, because there are plenty of those," he said.
Campaign finance reports show that $75,000 was raised and $70,000 spent in the sheriff's primary, with $32,000 of the $44,000 raised by Staten coming from personal loans to himself. Napier loaned his campaign $9,500 but the rest of his $29,000 came from donations. He'll go into the general election with just more than $2,000 left in his campaign account.
The reports show that Nanos has $15,500 in his campaign account.
During their campaigns, both candidates discussed "cronyism" in the department, saying that current Sheriff Chris Nanos exercises favoritism by hiring retired employees into newly-created and high-paying classified positions.
Early voting in the begins in six weeks and Election Day is Nov. 8.
