Recount confirms winner in tight Pima County sheriff race
Dec 6, 2024, 4:06 PM | Updated: 4:17 pm
Chris Nanos will retain his role as Pima County Sheriff following a recount. (Pima County Sheriff's Office Photo)
(Pima County Sheriff's Office Photo)
PHOENIX — The recount for the Pima County sheriff’s race has been completed, confirming Democrat Chris Nanos as the winner.
Nanos, the incumbent, edged Republican challenger Heather Lappin by 481 votes, according to a press release from the county. Over 485,000 votes were cast in the contest.
The recount netted 14 votes for Lappin, far short of the nearly 500 needed to flip the result of the race. Lappin gained 45 votes in the recount and Nanos received 31 more votes.
Nanos has been with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office since 1984.
How Pima County sheriff race recount was conducted
Pima County’s electronic adjudication process was used in the recount.
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A tabulator determines the voter intent in ballots as an overvote, undervote or unclear.
The two-person adjudication board — one Republican and one Democrat — found four overvote ballots, 71 undervotes and one write-in vote for the total of 76 more votes added.
“It is not uncommon to see changes in adjudicated ballots during a recount,” Pima County Elections Director Constance Hargrove said in the release. “The bipartisan boards adjudicating the ballots during a recount may not be the same boards who originally made the determination.
“The adjudication boards’ determinations are independent and final as intended by the statute.”
