ARIZONA NEWS

Maricopa County supervisor candidates brace for recount in race with razor-thin margin

Nov 14, 2024, 7:46 AM | Updated: Nov 25, 2024, 10:50 am

The race between Daniel Valenzuela and Kate Brophy McGee for the District 3 seat on the Maricopa Co...

The race between Daniel Valenzuela and Kate Brophy McGee for the District 3 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is heading to a recount. (Campaign Photos)

(Campaign Photos)

PHOENIX – Separated by a razor-thin margin, the candidates for the District 3 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are bracing for a recount.

With the number of uncounted ballots dwindling, Republican Kate Brophy McGee has been clinging to a narrow lead over Democratic Daniel Valenzuela for the only unsettled spot on the powerful Phoenix-area governing panel.

The margin was down to just 227 votes after Valenzuela trimmed more than 100 votes off Brophy McGee’s advantage on Wednesday, per the Maricopa County Election Department unofficial results page.

With the difference a mere 0.06 percentage points, far under the 0.5% margin for triggering an automatic recount under Arizona election law, the race won’t be done when the county is done with its initial tabulation.

“Right now, we hold the lead in this incredibly close race,” Brophy McGee said in a Wednesday post thanking her supporters on X. “While we are leading, the process isn’t over — Maricopa County is still counting ballots, and it’s likely we will proceed to a recount.”

Brophy McGee, a former state lawmaker, and Valenzuela, a former Phoenix councilman, are battling it out to succeed Republican Supervisor Bill Gates. Gates didn’t seek reelection in District 3, wich covers a swath of central and northern Phoenix as well as Cave Creek, Anthem, New River and Paradise Valley.

Republicans will maintain control of the five-member board regardless of the District 3 outcome, having clinched three of the four other seats.

What’s going on with the District 1 supervisor race

Only one other Maricopa County Board of Supervisors race couldn’t be called within a day of the election.

The District 1 contest essentially came to an end a week after Election Day, when Republican Mark Stewart declared victory after his lead over Democrat Joel Navarro on Monday. Stewart’s lead had been steadily expanding as counting progressed and had eclipsed 14,000 votes.

Stewart defeated incumbent Jack Sellers in the Republican primary for the East Valley district, but Sellers crossed the aisle to endorse Navarro in the general election.

How are the other Maricopa County Board of Supervisors races going?

The other three supervisor races in the state’s most populous county, which covers Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, were wrapped up by the day after the Nov. 5 election.

The two incumbents who made it to the general election won their reelection: Thomas Galvin, a Republican, and Steve Gallardo, the board’s only current Democrat.

Galvin declared victory over challenger Julie Cieniawski in District 5 on Nov. 6.

Gallardo, meanwhile, was blowing out Republican Ann Niemann by more than 30 points.

In another uncompetitive contest, Republican U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko ran away with the race to succeed Supervisor Clint Hickman, who didn’t run again in District 4. Lesko, who didn’t seek reelection to Congress, declared victory over Democrat David Sandoval on Nov. 6.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is tasked with approving the budget, appointing a county manager, overseeing election operations and other major duties.

Since 2020, the board has been in the spotlight due to unfounded election conspiracies and some members even received death threats.

This is an updated version of a story originally published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Maricopa County supervisor candidates brace for recount in race with razor-thin margin