One of Southern Arizona's most historic towns elected a new mayor Tuesday, one of four mayoral races contested in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties.
Tombstone Mayor Dustin Escapule was defeated by challenger Jack Henderson, with Henderson claiming more than 55 percent of the 623 votes cast.
In Bisbee, incumbent W.J. "Jack" Porter retained his seat, getting about 59 percent of the vote to defeat challenger Ronald Oertle, who got 41 percent.
In Nogales, Councilman Arturo Garino was the only candidate among three to garner more than 50 percent of the vote, racking up 51 percent, to 30 percent for Robert Rojas and 18 percent for Ruth Anne Alvarez, for the right to succeed current Mayor Octavio Garcia-Von Borstel.
In Sierra Vista, Rick "F.W." Mueller and Councilwoman Henrietta "Hank" Huisking advanced to the Nov. 2 general election, finishing first and second in a three-person race for mayor. Mueller got 40.5 percent of the vote to 39.4 percent for Huisking in the race to replace outgoing Mayor Bob Strain, while Joshua James was third with 19.7 percent.
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Council seats also were up for grabs in Bisbee, Nogales, Sierra Vista and Tombstone.
In Bisbee, Ward 1 and Ward 3 incumbents Boyd Nicholl and Anna Cline ran unopposed and retained their seats, while in Ward 2, Councilman Raymond Rodgers lost by seven votes to challenger Ransom Burke with all seven precincts reporting.
In Nogales, none of the three candidates - incumbents Ramon Felix and Nubar Hanessian, and challenger Jose Diaz - was able to get more than 50 percent of the vote, meaning each will be on the ballot for the general election. There are three open seats, though, meaning each is guaranteed to be elected in November.
In Sierra Vista, incumbent Thomas Reardon was the only one among four candidates to earn a seat, appearing on more than 50 percent of the ballots. Incumbent Bob Blanchard and challenger Tom Crosby were poised to take the remaining two seats, depending on if provisional ballots put them over 50 percent, while Bradley Snyder finished fourth.
And in Tombstone, incumbents Stephen Schmidt and Stacey Korbeck-Reeder lost to James Doherty and Michael Carrafa, respectively, while Randall Davis beat Christopher Littlejohn for an open seat.
Bisbee voters also passed three propositions.
And in Pinal County, the Apache Junction justice of the peace Republican primary went to Shaun Babeu, brother of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who got 61 percent to beat Dennis Lusk.
Contact reporter Brian J. Pedersen at bjp@azstarnet.com or call 573-4224.
