Marana mayor, council fend off challengers in contentious race

Voters also sent Town Council members Herb Kai, Teri Murphy and John Officer back for another four-year term, rejecting all but one of the Marana For the People candidates challenging the incumbents.

Challenger Jackie McGuire’s 6,143 votes landed her the council seat vacated by Patti Comerford, who decided not to seek re-election.

The story looked differently late Tuesday as results from Pima County trickled in. For most of the night, McGuire led in total votes just ahead of Kai . Around midnight, Officer was within striking distance behind challenger Julie Prince while Murphy’s lead over Sue Ritz was a slim 26 votes.

With 99% of the vote counted as of Wednesday, McGuire slid to fourth place while Officer leap-frogged his way to third behind Murphy, eliminating Ritz and Prince from contention.

"I'm just happy it's over,” Ritz said late Tuesday from a watch party at Album Marana apartments in Continental Ranch. “I'll take whatever results come."

“I was very optimistic coming into the night just based on feedback from the community,” McGuire said at that gathering.

Tuesday’s winners will be sworn in in November.

Post was appointed in late December 2024 to replace Honea, who died on Nov. 22, 2024 — weeks after winning re-election to a position he had held since 2002. If he holds onto his lead, Post will serve out the remainder of Ed Honea’s four-year term.

“I see an exciting future for the town of Marana, a future that has economic prosperity that includes job growth and things that really start to benefit our residents,” Post said just before the polls closed.

Tuesday’s election followed a months-long contentious campaign largely centered on the proposed 600-acre Luckett Road North and South Data Centers being developed by Beale Infrastructure, the company behind the proposed Project Blue data center in Pima County; and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center that could take over the former Marana State Prison.

Johnsen and his Marana For the People ticket blamed Post and the council for ignoring the community’s opposition to both projects.

Meanwhile, Post and incumbent council members Kai, Officer and Murphy campaigned on the pro-business and growth slogan “Keep Marana Strong.” The group’s TV ads focused on their combined experience; Kai has served on the council since the 1990s and Post was first elected in 2008.

The challengers framed the incumbents’ experience as a sign they were stuck in the past and behind the times when it came to development that keeps up with the town’s growth. 

McGuire said she believes the data center issue resonated with voters.

“That was the No. 1 concern we got at almost every door,” said McGuire, who works in cybersecurity and has lived in Marana 11 years. “I think that became this galvanizing thing.”

Days before Tuesday’s election, Post noted that this election cycle has been the ugliest in all his years in town politics. Much of the attacks were delivered via social media posts.

The Phoenix-based conservative PAC Local Majority focused its attack ads on McGuire, including criticizing her and the others for opposing the Downtown Marana project that will create a walkable entertainment district in the heart of downtown.

The project has been stalled for years as opponents took their concerns to court. On Monday, the Arizona Supreme Court cleared the way for the 19-acre project to go forward after the court denied a petition for review.

Tuesday’s election will go down as the town’s most expensive, with candidates combined spending more than $400,000. In previous elections, including in 2018 and 2020, most candidates spent in the hundreds, not thousands, according to campaign finance reports filed with the town.

Council members beginning in November will earn $31,000 while the mayor’s salary is $37,000; the vice mayor, selected by the council, will receive $31,000. All elected officials receive a car and phone allowance.