Nov. 5 has come and gone, and the fury over voting for the next president of the United States was not the only issue on the ballot. Several propositions were on the ballot including home rule elections in Mammoth and a school override election in Ray. Superior had two contested school board seats up for election.
Voters across Pinal County voted to continue the half cent road maintenance tax. The tax has been in existence for 20 years and helps Pinal County and local municipalities fund basic road maintenance work. Proposition 486 was also known as the Pot Hole tax.
Voters in Mammoth had two major ballot items including voting for Mayor and the Home Rule proposition. Voters elected Ernest Bustamante for the position of Mayor. He won the seat with 231 votes. He ran against incumbent Mayor Patsy Armenta who received 179 votes. The Home Rule Option was approved 244 to 129.
Ray Unified School district voters approved an override continuation: 741 voters approved the continuation, 504 voters voted against the measure. This was not a new tax but a continuation of the current override which allows the district to tax a bit more to allow for other general operations of the school. Without the approved continuation, the district would have needed to make major cuts to their budget.
The Superior Unified School district had two board vacancies up for election in the 2024 election. For the first time in several years, the open seats had multiple candidates seeking election to the board. Ericka Vasquez who was appointed to the board several years ago opted to run for the four-year term, vacated by Nathan Duarte. Nick Cruz a local businessman ran against Vasquez for the four-year term. He won the seat with 766 votes to Vasquez’ 454 votes. Two new candidates sought election to the two-year term. Randi Villegas challenged Martin Navarrette for the term. Navarrette won the seat with 746 votes versus Villegas 461 votes. Superior Unified School District will have an additional seat open for appointment due to the recent resignation of Board President Hector Apparicio.
These results were gathered from the Pinal County Elections office.