Incumbent Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton and Democratic Socialist candidate Miranda Lopez are in a near-tie for the Democratic nomination for the second House seat in Legislative District 21, new numbers show.
Another round of ballot counts was released Wednesday evening, which returned Lopez to a 5-vote lead over Stahl Hamilton. Just hours before, Stahl Hamilton was up 24 votes.
State law requires an automatic recount if the margin between two candidates falls between 0.5% of total ballots cast between them. Wednesday’s numbers fall within the recount margin.
The Tucson chapter of the Democratic Socialists declared victory earlier Wednesday for its candidate, Lopez, when Lopez was leading Stahl Hamilton by 174 votes before the latest update.
“Together with the Lopez campaign, we brought together over 7,100 voters around a democratic socialist vision for Southern Arizona that includes: Reinvesting in public education by eliminating the universal voucher system, imposing a moratorium on future data center construction, building worker power by repealing 'Right to Work' laws, and Defunding ICE,” they wrote in a news release.
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Incumbent Consuelo Hernandez easily won Tuesday's primary in the district with about 30% of the vote.
Maritza Higuera trailed with about 18%.
Because every House district has two seats, the top two Democratic candidates in LD21 will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, where they will face Republican Christopher Kibbey, who ran unopposed in his primary.
The district covers portions of Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties, representing communities such as Nogales, Sahuarita, Rio Rico, Benson, and parts of southeast Tucson.
“I'm really proud of every vote that we earned, and also proud of the work that my running mate did,” Hernandez said after initial results dropped. “I think that a lot of the noise is trying to pit Democrats against each other, and since the very beginning, my family, along with Senator (Sally Ann) Gonzales, have committed our entire lives to the Democratic Party, so no one can take anything away from us.”
Stahl Hamilton said she expected the race to be tight shortly after the first round of ballots 8 p.m. Tuesday showed the two candidates in a tie.
"It's going to be too close to call for awhile here," she said.
Hernandez teamed up this primary cycle with newcomer Higuera instead of fellow incumbent Hamilton.
Hernandez, who has served two terms, has advocated to fully fund public education, rebuild Arizona's economy by investing in the small business community and invest in infrastructure and renewable energy resources, according to her campaign website.
This was Lopez's first run for office. She told the Star Monday that campaigning had been "stressful but rewarding." She said she'd successfully differentiated herself by being the youngest and most progressive candidate in the race, as well as the only union member and the only candidate advocating for eliminating the universal voucher program.
"I am also the only one who has really recent experience of working to advocate for college students at our public universities," she told the Star. "I have a political organizing background."
On her campaign website, Lopez lists her priorities as reinvesting in public education, making housing more affordable, protecting water, land and air quality, defending Medicaid and SNAP, stopping ICE and generating LGBTQ+ solidarity.
Incumbent Stahl Hamilton told the Star Monday she felt confident heading into the primary election, emphasizing her hard work and community support.
She said her legislative experience — including serving on six committees, being the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, and her role in budget negotiations — sets her apart from the other candidates.
According to her campaign website, she also wants to better fund public education, invest in renewable energy, enact "sensible" gun safety laws and expand health care coverage.
Higuera, an author of bilingual children's books, lists public safety, investment in infrastructure, fair wages and environmental justice as her primary priorities on her campaign website.
She told the Star Tuesday morning that she felt excited but nervous heading into primary night.
"I know it's it's not an easy job, but you know I've been getting hundreds of messages from friends, families, volunteers, neighbors, telling me we got this," she said. "I know it might not be an easy race, but I'm very happy with our accomplishments."
She said Hernandez was extremely helpful in giving her campaigning tips.
"I feel very humble that someone already serving was opening my path," she said. "She saw that I was putting in work door knocking, getting signatures and going and introduce myself to more people that I didn't get to know before, and that's how we made that bond."
