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Election Day in Arizona is here, El Mirage mayor seat up for grabs
Posted
Election Day is Tuesday, with candidates running for office awaiting the results.
First, the votes need to come in.
In Maricopa County, 2.2 million people are registered to vote.
According to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, nearly 1.2 million requests for early ballots were made. Of that, about 447,000 were returned as of Aug. 23.
People have until 7 p.m. Tuesday to return their early ballots or to vote at a polling location. The Recorder’s Office had recommended Aug. 22 as the last day to mail back early ballots.
In Arizona, Secretary of State Michele Reagan said Thursday that nearly 22,000 new voters had registered since March. There are more than 3.6 million voters in the state.
Around 21,000 voters registered as Democrats since March. Around 5,300 registered as Republicans, while the number of unaffiliated voters dropped by 4,500.
Overall, Arizona is home to about 1.26 million Republican voters and 1.11 million Democratic voters. There are around 31,000 Libertarian voters and 6,500 Green party registrants, with 1.21 million voters who don’t have an official party preference.Elections in Arizona have had their quirks over the years. In 2018, one of the issues was the incorrect mailing of early ballots to voters registered as Independent.
“The issue was found and resolved before many early ballots were mailed out,” said Sophia Solis, public information officer for Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes.
Ms. Solis on Thursday said the agency had about 300 Independent voters whom officials had not been able to connect with to reconfirm their ballot request.
The agency would continue reaching out to them via phone calls and post cards.
After casting a ballot, voters can check its status at Ballotstatus.Maricopa.Vote, or by texting “JOIN” to 628-683 for text alerts.
El Mirage
Chance Mikos and Alexis Hermosillo are hoping to replace Lana Mook as El Mirage’s mayor.
The newcomers recently attended a candidate forum while the Ms. Mook skipped.
Mr. Mikos told the Daily News-Sun that El Mirage needs a mayor who is going to be more accessible to residents, both at city hall and away from it.
He has been running on the pillars of economic development, public safety and education.
Mr. Mikos has enjoyed the development of the roads in the city, in particular Thunderbird, El Mirage and Dysart roads, as well as the upcoming Northern Parkway additions to further connect the West Valley.
However, he feels El Mirage has spent too much on infrastructure, citing the recently new city hall building as the big example.
With police officers and firefighters moving out more than they are coming into the city, Mr. Mikos is trying to find ways to fund additional help.
“We’ve got some issues there that we are trying to dam up but got to look at revenue streams,” he said. Raising the sales tax has been floated as one possibility to help create additional revenue rather than an increase in property taxes.
Ms. Hermosillo also has public safety, education and economic development in mind, telling the Daily News-Sun those issues are “interconnected and necessary to propel a city and create an environment that is conducive to growth.”
She wants to see fresh, new ideas from the city’s leadership.
“I think we can do a better job engaging with the public to understand what our community wants and needs,” Ms. Hermosillo said.
The El Mirage Police Department has upped its game in recent months, with the addition of Chief Paul Marzocca.
Mr. Mikos noted that in talking with the DNS, and said using social media, like Facebook, is something he plans to continue to use to communicate with residents. He has already had a heavy presence in a few El Mirage groups on Facebook.
Ms. Hermosillo has also used that medium. She is also not a new face to the city, serving on the Public Safety Subcommittee. She has noticed the city’s desire to strengthen relationships with the community and increase opportunities to inform the public.
“They have also made improvements to city infrastructure that I would like to see continue in the area of transportation and information technology,” she said.
Both Mr. Mikos and Ms. Hermosillo have been out in public campaigning. And while neither appear to be worried about the current mayor’s eight years in the position, Ms. Mook has had residents watching her every move. They know what they’re getting.
She has served on organizations like the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, the Western Maricopa Coalition, the Executive Committee of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, and the League Resolution Subcommittee on General Administration, Human Resources and Elections Policy Committee.
She is currently the treasurer on the executive committee of the Maricopa Association of Governments and was nominated to serve as vice chair for Fiscal Year 2018-19.
Youngtown
Election Day may be tomorrow, but Mayor Michael LeVault is already Youngtown’s lead official for the foreseeable future.
Why? He is the lone person on the mayoral ballot.
The council race is far from clear. Three at-large positions (Youngtown has no districts) are up for grabs. Incumbents Margaret Chittenden, Judy Johnson and June Miller have terms expiring this year. Only Ms. Johnson is not running for re-election. The town for sure will have one new councilmember, in the form of candidates Karen Duncan, Michael Francis, Denita Manning and Walter Westover Jr.
U.S. and State Offices
Residents in District 8 - which comprises most of the West Valley - have seats to fill for governor, Congress and Senate (U.S. and Arizona), among others.
Races to watch closely include the Republican and Democratic governor primaries. Governor Doug Ducey has one challenger in Ken Bennett. Whoever advances there will have a Democratic waiting in November between David Garcia, Steve Farley and Kelly Fryer.
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Martha McSally and Kelli Ward are running to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Jeff Flake.
An OH Predictive Insights poll has Ms. McSally in the winning spot, 8 points ahead of Ms. Ward.
But Ms. McSally can’t rest if Tuesday’s primary goes her way. She is likely to face Kyrsten Sinema from the Democratic side in November. Ms. Sinema was ahead in the poll by 4 points over Ms. McSally.
The gap is closing, however, according to the poll.
Northwest Valley Polling locations
Sun City
Bell Center, Multi-Purpose Room, 16820 N. 99th Ave.
Fairway Center, Arizona Room, 10600 W. Peoria Ave.
Sundial Center, East Hall, 14801 N. 103rd Ave.
Sun City Christian Church, Cobbs Fellowship Hall, 9745 W. Palmeras Dr.
Lakeview Center, Social Hall 2, 10626 W. Thunderbird Blvd.
American Lutheran Church, Fellowship Hall, 17200 N. Del Webb Blvd.
Mountain View Center, Auditorium, 9749 N. 107th Ave.
Oakmont Center, Auditorium, 10725 W. Oakmont Dr.
Marinette Center, Social Hall, 9860 W. Union Hills Dr.
First Christian Church, Fellowship Hall, 14001 N. Thunderbird Blvd.
