Results of the Nov. 5 general election in Pinal County are now official.

On Wednesday, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the 2024 general election canvass.

Recorder Dana Lewis told the supervisors that of 282,639 registered voters in Pinal County, 211,595 ballots were cast. Of those votes, 166,026 came from early voting, 44,338 were cast on Nov. 5, and 1,231 were provisional ballots.

The overall voter turnout was 74.86%, which was identical to the 2020 general election. However, 186,319 county residents voted in 2020, with 2024’s increase attributed to Pinal County’s growing population.

In the board of supervisor’s District 1 race, Republican Rich Vitiello gained 57% with Democrat George Arredondo Sr. logging 42.6%. Vitiello will replace District 1 Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh who opted to run for sheriff. Cavanaugh was defeated in the primary. Supervisors Mike Goodman, Stephen Miller, Jeffrey McClure and Jeff Serdy ran for reelection unopposed.

Pinal County will have a new sheriff. Republican Ross Teeple topped Democrat Patrick Melvin 63.5% to 36%. Current sheriff Mark Lamb did not run for reelection, instead taking on Kari Lake in the Republican primary for U.S. senator. Lamb lost to Lake and Lake lost the general election to Democrat Ruben Gallego.

Voters overwhelmingly approved continuing Pinal County’s half-cent excise tax for road maintenance. Proposition 486 received 75.6% “yes” votes. The “no” votes came in at 24.3%. The “yes” vote extends the tax until 2046. The 20-year continuation of the tax is projected to generate $800 million to $1.2 billion in revenue and be used for road repair, pothole repair, road widening, road preservation, new road construction, intersection improvements and traffic safety improvements.

In the Apache Junction Unified School District Governing Board election, incumbent Cami Garcia received 25% of the vote. The district will have two new members after Judy Williamson scored 21% of the vote and Sandra Leen received 19.7%.

Apache Junction residents voted down the school district’s proposed $20 million bond for school improvements. The “no” votes took the election with 54%. The “yes” votes came in at 45.5%. The bond money had been earmarked for, among other things, bolstering safety and security measures across all school campuses, and performing critical repairs and preventative maintenance to aging schools.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org.