As Pima County Elections workers continued tabulating ballots from the Nov. 3 election, hoping they could be finished before the weekend, the outcomes of some races were put in doubt while other outcomes showed strengthening trends.

In races for the Tucson City Council, Republican challengers gained ground in later tabulation reports as Steve Kozachik’s margin over incumbent Nina Trasoff widened in Ward 6 and Ben Buehler-Garcia narrowed his gap behind incumbent Karin Uhlich in Ward 3 to less than 250 votes.

The one council race that seemed not in doubt was Richard Fimbres’ victory in Ward 5. Fimbres will fill the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Steve Leal.

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Among other issues, Proposition 200, the controversial Public Safety First initiative, was also soundly defeated, rejected by more than 70 percent of the votes. Leaders of the effort conceded defeat on election night.

Proposition 200 would have amended the city charter to set minimum staffing levels for police officers and minimum response times for emergency calls. The proponents had gathered a record 18,000 signatures on petitions last summer to put the measure on the ballot. Both supporters and opponents of the measure say polling data indicated as recently as six weeks ago that it had strong support, which prompted opponents to mount a concerted effort to defeat it.

Voters in Tucson Unified School District rejected the district’s third attempt in five years to get permission to raise taxes and increase spending limits on its operations and capital budgets. And, probably owing to the economy, this year’s defeat of the maintenance and operations override by more than 58 percent was the widest margin yet. Five years ago, it was voted down by 57 percent of voters and last year it was rejected by 52 percent of voters.  

Among school districts that asked voters to approve additional spending measures, Catalina Foothills, Tanque Verde and Indian Oasis-Baboquivari sold their cases to voters.

But it was a mixed case in two other districts. Voters in the Vail and Sahuarita unified school districts favored proposals to sell bonds for school facilities improvements but rejected the idea of allowing the districts to continue exceeding state-set limitations on their operations budgets.

The strong showing by Republicans was evident election night as close to 300 people celebrated.

Pima County Republican Chairman Bob Westerman hosted the gathering with attendees including State Party Chairman Randy Pullen, businessman Jim Click, several state and local legislators and the city council candidates.

State Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said that some of the biggest Tea Party turnouts in the state have been in Southern Arizona showing the frustration with Democrats.

“I’ve not seen this type of energy in our party in one room at one time ever before,” said Jesse Kelly, who is an announced Republican candidate Congressional District 8. “Younger people are getting involved to help take back their government.”

Click said the results were “the start of something real exciting. Hold your heads up high, next fall there is a Board of Supervisors race, the governor and (congressional) races.”

Rick Grinnell, who founded his consulting firm Smart United Business Strategies (SUBS) this year, noted, “There’s more young people here because for the first time in their lives, they feel vulnerable. They’re feeling the tax pressures that our generation has felt. There is no security right now and fear has a tendency to lead to change.  This election may not change the way we do business in Tucson, but I’m excited about the next generation.”