Hernandez takes early lead over Perez in LD20 Dem. race

With 61% of precincts reporting at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hernandez had 54% to Perez's 46%, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s website.

No Republican candidates qualified for the primary ballot in the deeply blue district, meaning if Hernandez wins, she will likely run unopposed in the November general election, unless there is a successful write-in candidate.

The Hernandez-aligned legislative candidates and supporters gathered at a hotel ball room in downtown Tucson with mariachi music and a DJ blaring after a first ballot drop after 8 p.m.

Hernandez ran as a slate with House candidate Sally Ann Gonzales and LD21 candidate Consuelo Hernandez, her sister.

"I'm really proud of the work that we did as a group," Alma Hernandez said shortly after initial results were announced Tuesday night.

A few miles away, challenger Rocque Perez gathered at American Eat Co. on Tucson’s south side alongside several other legislative candidates. Tension built towards 9 p.m. as initial legislative district results trickled in much more slowly than the statewide office races.

Legislative District 20 includes most of Tucson’s west side, some parts of midtown, the University of Arizona, and a northern section of the Pascua Yaqui tribal lands.

The Senate race was anticipated to be one of the most closely-watched Democratic primaries as a battle between the more progressive Perez and moderate Hernandez.

After reaching term limits in their current chambers, current House Rep. Alma Hernandez and Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales campaigned to swap seats; Hernandez ran for Gonzales' seat in the Senate, while Gonzales ran for a House seat.

Hernandez has faced criticism from her own party in recent months, including a statement of concern from legislative district leaders that cited her 151 votes with Republicans since 2023.

On Tuesday night, she questioned whether Perez was a Democratic Socialist and said she doubted if they should be included under the party’s umbrella.

“I don't believe that DSA, they are really Democrats. I think, if anything, our city of Tucson and our community and our districts rejected DSA candidates," she said.

In a text message to the Star, Rocque did not dispute the characterization but instead questioned his opponents.

“If we want to comparatively analyze alignment with the Democratic Party, I certainly wouldn’t trust Rep. Alma Hernandez to be the judge of that, considering she voted with Republicans 159 times in four years. More than any Democrat in the Arizona Legislature,” he wrote.

Perez also acknowledged his opponent’s lead.

“If there’s anything to learn from these preliminary results, it’s that grassroots organizing can stand up to corporate power, or at the very least put up one hell of a fight,” he wrote.

Before results dropped Tuesday, Perez agreed the race had gotten nasty, and said he didn’t regret his campaign strategy.

“I felt like right now Tucson demands that we fight against Republicans,” he said. “I did come out swinging, and I don't regret it. … I stuck to the facts, I stuck to policy, stuck to the money, I stuck to legislative behavior, and I think that she consistently tried to go elsewhere."

Hernandez defended her status as a moderate Democrat.

"I never ran on being the most progressive person, and I'm very proud of where I stayed, and never changed my opinions or anything just because they were trying to push me further to the left. That wasn't going to happen," she said.

Perez also faced challenges on the campaign trail, including accusations that his old social media posts promoted violent political rhetoric and that he once had an explicit OnlyFans account. He has since acknowledged the past social media posts, saying how he went about criticizing the Trump administration was a product of growing up in an era of political violence.

“But I’m not running for the top seat in a perfection contest,” he wrote in a June 8 social media post.

He also filed a legal challenge in an attempt to remove Hernandez from the ballot, alleging that Hernandez’ accumulation of $20,000 in fees stemming from late campaign finance filings violated state law, the Star previously reported.

Perez has called out the Hernandez campaign for taking money from corporate interests, including AirBnb. He said addressing campaign finance issues would be a high priority if he won the seat.

"If the results aren't in our favor, I think we've got to really think strategically about how to overcome corporate money in an era where corporations dominate everything,” he said.

Hernandez said she is proud to have the support of unions and the amount of money she raised reflects her community support.

“I've been in office for eight years now, and I've worked with many different community members and organizations and groups,” she said.

On the campaign trail, the two candidates shared similar opposition to federal immigration enforcement but sparred over their vision for the region’s economic development, particularly data centers.

At a primary debate, Hernandez said she would support working with data center developers because the region needs more high-paying jobs.

Meanwhile, Perez pointed to his vote to reject Project Blue last summer while serving a seven-month appointment on the Tucson City Council. He said data centers deplete natural resources and do not create many employment opportunities.