by 
Copper Area News
All election results are as reported through the Pinal County Elections office and the Arizona Secretary of States office. Election results are currently unofficial until they are canvassed and approved.
Despite an overall low voter turnout state wide, Copper Corridor voters went to the polls and cast their vote for their party’s candidate in last weeks primary elections. Pinal and Gila county voters have played a huge role in the Congressional district one race where the republican candidates are still waiting to learn who received their party’s nomination for CD 1. Candidates for Arizona Legislative District eight were also nominated. Locally Hayden, Kearny, and Mammoth all had municipal elections and all of the Justice of the Peace and constable seats were up for re-election.
Voters in Congressional district one are still waiting to see who will face incumbent Democrat Representative Ann Kirkpatrick. At press time votes were still being counted to determine the race. Only 359 votes separate Andy Tobin and Gary Kiehne and there are still 3200 provisional ballots to count. Due to the close numbers there may be a recount of all the votes before a winner is determined.
Hayden voters submitted their votes to elect Bobby Smith as mayor of Hayden and they re-elected councilmember incumbents Maria Munoz with 94 votes, Rhonda Cooper with 71 votes and Gloria Ruiz with 80 votes. Smith was elected in a write-in election that was called following the resignation of former Mayor Charles Vega. Smith received 45 votes and his opponent Jose Vasquez received 32 votes. Town Clerk Laura Romero explained that at this time is appears that Smith has the 50 percent + 1 of the votes needed to be elected as mayor however the town was waiting on confirmation from the town attorney to determine if a general election will be needed to elect the mayor.
Kearny had three council seats open in this primary election, with no opposition Lana Dalton and Daniel Radcliff were re-elected to their seats and Nancy Hinojos was elected to fill the seat of Neil Gambell who did not seek re-election. Stats on the election shows that Daniel Radcliff was the lead vote getter with 410 votes, Nancy Hinojos received 390 votes and Lana Dalton received 365 votes. Voters re-elected Sam Hosler as mayor of Kearny. Hosler received 300 votes while James Hosea received 254 votes.
Mammoth voters elected two councilmembers during the August primary. Pedro Chapo Gallego received 185 votes, incumbent Rogina Gina Medina received 146 votes and there were 62 write-in votes. Based on data from the League of Cities and Town Directory, Gallego will be filling the vacant seat on the council which term ends in 2014. Councilmember Erik Romero’s seat also expired in 2014, however a third candidate did not run and it does not appear that Romero sought re-election.
Democratic voters in Superior and Kearny re-elected Larry Bravo as their Justice of Peace. Bravo faced Kearny resident Michael Cosme Real. Bravo took the election with 531 votes, Real received 417 votes. Christopher Alvarado was elected as the constable, he beat out incumbent Richard Elliott. Alvarado received 550 votes, Elliott received 365 votes. There were no Republican candidates in the primary election so Bravo and Alvarado will take their oath of office in January.
San Manuel and Mammoth voters elected Arnold Estrada as their Justice of the Peace. He faced Ernest Bustamante, and Peter Curley in the Democratic primary. There were no candidates in the Republican primary for JP. Henry Velazquez ran unopposed for constable for the San Manuel and Mammoth district.
Oracle Republican voters elected Nancy Discher as their candidate for Justice of the Peace. Discher faced Robert Kent and incumbent Keith Miller in the Republican Primary for JP. Discher received 1,708 votes, Miller received 351 votes and Kent received 665 votes. Discher will face Gary Graham in the November general election. Oracle Republicans elected Mike Sloan as the constable with 1,492 votes. He was victorious over Brad Ray, 447 votes, and Ronald Strawn, 325 votes. There were no candidates in the Democratic primary for constable, therefore Sloan will be seated into the office in January.
Arizona Legislative district eight will have Democrat incumbent Senator Barbara McGuire facing Republican Irene Littleton. Littleton beat out San Tan Valley resident Alan Pease and Harold Vangilder. Representatives Frank Pratt and TJ Shope successfully won the republican primary. They will face Democrat former Globe City Councilmember Carmen Casillas in the general election. Incumbents Pratt and Shope beat out Wayne Bachmann and Darla Dawald.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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