Incumbent Tucson City Councilmember Kevin Dahl declared victory Tuesday night over his challenger, Sadie Shaw, in a tight Democratic primary race in Ward 3.
Dahl had 2,993 votes to Shaw's 2,855, a 138-vote margin.
Ward 3 incumbent Kevin Dahl talks with Mayor Regina Romero at a Democratic watch party at Hotel Congress, August 5, 2025, where he declared victory over challenger Sadie Shaw despite a close count late Tuesday night.
Election officials were done counting ballots for the night, but citywide, 1,777 votes still need to be counted, city spokesman Andy Squire said. It wasn't clear how many of those are from Democrats in Ward 3.
The outstanding ballots won't be counted until Monday, after their signatures are verified, Squire said.Β
Kevin Dahl, left, and Sadie Shaw.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Janet "JL" Wittenbraker in the Nov. 4 general election.
Dahl said his 3% margin over Shaw so far was enough for him to declare a primary victory βthat will be confirmed.β
βMy fellow candidate for Ward 3 did a pretty good job campaigning, and it's pretty close, but it's not too close to call. It's just a close call,β he said. β(The margin) means that every vote does count, and every door knock counts, every phone call made.β
βIt's a strange time, and it's a time that Democrats have to rise to the opportunity and the challenge that we're facing,β Dahl said. βYou hear it and see it in the news, read it in the news every day. We need to be the voice of democracy. We need to be the voice of justice. We need to protect the environment. We need to talk about climate change.β
Shaw, a Tucson Unified School District board member, said Wednesday that Dahl's victory speech was "absolutely" premature given the amount of outstanding votes.
"We're super close ... if I was him, if things were turned around and I was up 138 votes, I would not have made a victory speech. But you know, he's confident enough to do that, so we'll what happens," she said. "I'm very pleased with how much support we've gotten thus far.Β With almost 2,000 and maybe 600 (votes) or more in my ward left to be counted, I think it's just too close to call and we're hopeful that we're going to close that margin.
"Whatever happens I'm just so grateful for all the support that I received," she said.
Dahl, a longtime conservationist who led the environmentalist groups Tucson Audubon Society and Native Seeds/SEARCH, is seeking a second term after first taking office in 2021. Prior to being elected, heΒ served as the Arizona senior program manager at the National Parks Conservation Association. His focus on the council since being elected has been in the environmental and conservation vein.
Some of the attendees chat before the first results of the night are posted at a Democratic watch party at Hotel Congress, August 5, 2025, Tucson, Ariz.
Shaw, who grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Ward 3, was elected to the TUSD Governing Board in 2020 and won a second term there last November. She also currently serves on the Tucson Juneteenth Festival Board and is the public art and community design administrator for the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Ward 3, which encompasses midtown and the northwest boundaries of the city, is a Democratic stronghold by a nearly three-to-one margin.
As of Monday, there are 20,635 registered Democrats andΒ 7,949 registered Republicans in the midtown ward, according to the Pima County Recorder's Office. The second-largest voting block,Β 16,757, are independent voters.
