[Crossposted at DKos, it felt weird to not post this here at my blog home]
This is GREAT news for Democrats in Arizona! There were three open seats on the Tucson City Council. The Democrats ran unopposed for one of those seats and mounted strong challengers to the other two (formerly) held by Republicans Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar.
VICTORY news from the Tucson Citizen:
Ward 3
Kathleen Dunbar (Rep): 21511
38.43%
Karin Uhlich (Dem): 34395
61.45%
Ward 5
Steve Leal (Dem): 40501
97.49%
Ward 6
Fred Ronstadt (Rep): 19495
34.67%
Nina Trasoff (Dem): 36662
65.19%
Proposition 100 (Mayor & Council raises)
Yes: 27317
49.09%
No: 28325
50.91%
Proposition 400 (Home rule)
Yes: 30348
62.65%
No: 20417
37.35%
(emphasis mine)
I attended the Democratic VICTORY party at Hotel Congress and can testify that morale has never been higher for the party. This is a big win for Tucson and will change the dynamic of the council dramatically. Smile Big Dems! We are going to reclaim this country city-by-city.
WE KICKED ASS!
More from the Arizona Daily Star:
Democrats are back in charge at City Hall.
Nina Trasoff and Karin Uhlich won decisive victories Tuesday, handily beating Republicans Fred Ronstadt and Kathleen Dunbar.
The double-barrel wins return city government to Democratic control for the first time since 2001 and leave Mayor Bob Walkup as the council’s only Republican.
“Tomorrow we have a different council but our goals for the city are still the same,” Walkup told Democrats at their celebration headquarters at the Hotel Congress.
With ballots from all the city’s 136 precincts counted, it was clear that Democrats prevailed among voters who cast ballots at the polls on Tuesday and the nearly equal number who voted early.
“Our message resonated,” said a gleeful Paul Eckerstrom, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party. “The city is now in the hands of people who care about regular citizens and not special interests.”
Both Trasoff and Uhlich hammered away at that message for months. They each cited the controversial $14-a-month garbage fee as proof their opponents did not care about regular citizens, and they each cited the slow implementation of commercial impact fees as evidence Republicans were beholden to special interests.
Their argument worked. (emphasis mine)
YEAH!
