TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The unofficial results are in for Tucson's election for members of the City Council, including a new face.
Democratic candidates won all three seats up for election in Arizona's biggest left-leaning city in unofficial results reported Tuesday night. Councilmember Steve Kozachik defeated independent Val Romero in Ward 6, and Richard Fimbres defeated write-in candidates Shelley Cross and Adalberto Diaz.
Councilmember Kozachik’s Ward covers midtown and most of downtown, but he has also been aggressive on regional issues like ground water contamination, and regional transportation. But in Tuesday's election he gave a lot of credit for his re-election to how his office solved problems for individual constituents.
“I’m really grateful to the residents of the City of Tucson for recognizing the work that my staff, principally and I have been doing for the last four years. We’re top drawer in constituent services and that I think has panned out in this election," Kozachik said.
Kozachik is concerned about the tone campaigns have these days.
"At a local election things got pretty ugly and when I get emails from people telling me I ought to go hang myself and that kind of thing. That’s totally inappropriate. But we’re going into a midterm next year. With that level of rhetoric. I’m really concerned about the nature of how people are simply unable to agree in a civil manner," Kozachik said.
Independent Val Romero made better pay and retention of police — a key campaign issue. He declined interviews election night.
No incumbent ran in the Ward 3 election. Democrat Paul Durham resigned from his seat earlier this year due to personal matters, and Mayor Regina Romero appointed Karen Uhlich to take the seat she had held previously in the interim. In Tuesday's election, Democrat Kevin Dahl beat Republican Alan Harwell Jr. and Lucy Libosha to represent Ward 3 on the City Council.
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