In the race for U.S. Senate, Kari Lake will be the Republican nominee in November, receiving more than 340,000 votes so far in Tuesday’s primary, followed by Sheriff Mark Lamb with 240,000 votes. Kari Lake will face off against Democrat Ruben Gallego for the seat in the Senate. Also in the Republican primary for the U.S. House seat in District Two which includes Prescott, Representative Eli Crane easily won the nomination, defeating challenger Jack Smith by a four to one margin. Crane will face the Democrat Jonathan Nez for the House seat in November.
State Legislature, in the race for the state Senate in District One, area newcomer Mark Finchem is leading incumbent Senator Ken Bennett for the Republican nomination, with Finchem garnering 20,744 votes to Bennett’s 15,114, with Steve Zipperman in third with 8,219 votes. The winner will face Democrat Mark Fogel. In the race for the state House, incumbents Quang Nguyen and Selena Bliss easily won Tuesday, moving on to the general election, with challenger Shawn Dell Wildman finishing third. Nguyen and Bliss will face Democrats Marcia Smith and Jay Ruby for the two District One House seats in November.
Looking at the Yavapai County races, first for the Board of Supervisors: In District One, Brooks Compton holds the lead with 3,728 votes, followed by Greg Mengarelli with 3,184, David McNabb is third with 1,112 and Deb Pernice is fourth with 923 votes. In District Four, the race is too close to call, with incumbent Craig Brown currently leading by only 10 votes. Brown garnered 4,408 Tuesday, followed by Chris Kuknyo with 4,398 votes and Lucy Wheat is in third with 2,151 votes. And in District Five, Supervisor Mary Mallory easily won reelection defeating Richard Tupek by a wide margin.
Voters have returned County Attorney Dennis McGrane and Sheriff David Rhodes to their respective offices for another term by wide margins, with McGrane defeating challenger David Stringer by nearly a 70-to-30 percent count, while Rhodes bested Doug Eckenrod by a three-to-one margin. In the race for County School Superintendent, Steve King holds the lead in the last update over Kara Woods, with King garnering 20,475 votes to Woods 18,568.
In the race for the Prescott Valley Town Council, five candidates are vying for four seats. The latest update shows Matt Zurcher leading with 7,241 votes, followed by Kenneth Freund with 6,681 votes, Janell Kiehl in third with 6,636, Bill Williams in fourth with 6,261 votes, and Lori Hunt in fifth place with 5,406 votes.
In Chino Valley, Tom Armstrong leads the race for mayor with 1,383 votes, followed by Jeffrey Pizzi with 1,190. And in the four way race for three seats on the Chino Valley Town Council, Larry Holt is in first place with 1,759 votes, followed by Robert Switzer in second place with 1,587, Eric Granillo in third with 1,542 and Darryl Croft in fourth with 1,443.
In Dewey Humboldt, Matthew Fenn leads the race for mayor with 597 votes, followed by John Hughes with 514 votes. In the race for the four-year term council seat, Jeremiah Barron leads all candidates with 634 votes, followed by Michael Donovan with 453 votes, Thomas Mallette with 433, Robert Naud with 421 and Mike Long with 417. And in the race for the two-year seat on the Dewey Humboldt council, Jason Chisholm is leading Lynn Collins with 578 votes to Collins 363.
Proposition 474 in Prescott Valley, allowing and extension of the alternative local expenditure limit, easily passed by more than a three to one margin.