Pima County

One write-in candidate is also running.

The Ajo Justice Court. Justice courts handle evictions, small claims and traffic cases.

Ajo area. We found too little on either candidate to tell them apart, so the pick goes to the Democrat.

Clerk of the Superior Court (James W. Giacomino, D); Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 (Victoria Steele, D), Precinct 6 (Morgan Miholich, D, plus one write-in) and Precinct 7 (Raymond Carroll, R); Constable Precinct 2 (Francisco Lopez, D, plus one write-in) and Precinct 9 (Gerard Acuña, D, plus one write-in).

Also on some ballots and not rated: Hidden Valley Fire District (Richard Flores, Trevor Mulligan), Mescal-J6 Fire District (Bruce Andrews, Dana Law, Stephanie Libercci, Mike Nervik, Wade Temple II, Deborah Wise), Northwest Fire District (Paul Hestand, David Talas, Roger Wright) and Drexel Heights Fire District (write-ins only).

Yes or no on keeping three Court of Appeals Division II judges (Sean Brearcliffe, Michael Kelly, Jeffrey Sklar) and ten Superior Court judges: J. Alan Goodwin, Janet Calkins Bostwick, Danelle Bennett Liwski, Sandra M. Bensley, Catherine M. Woods, Kathleen A. Quigley, Laurie B. San Angelo, Cynthia T. Kuhn, Jeffrey T. Bergin and Randi Burnett. We haven't profiled judges. The state's Judicial Performance Review commission rates each one at azjudges.info. The Supreme Court retention vote is in the State and federal section.

Two seats. Eckstrom has the teachers' union behind her and Fernandez is a working teacher. Acosta Ruiz and Rhodes are also decent choices.

Two seats in north Tucson and Oro Valley. All three are decent; we picked the two longtime Amphi teachers.

Finishes the term of the late Patsy Harris. Both are good choices; we lean to the career educator.

Two seats on the east side. We picked only Jordan. We found nothing troubling about the two incumbents, but not enough to rate them.

Two seats, two names on the ballot plus one write-in. We picked only Sparks.

Pima JTED runs career and technical education programs for high schools around the county. We picked the longtime teacher.

Two seats. Federico is also a good choice.

Arizona elects its first lieutenant governor this year, on a joint ticket with the governor. Two write-in Republicans, Gertritrude Gonzalez and Alice Novoa, are also running for governor.

The secretary of state runs Arizona elections.

Open seat.

Write-in candidates Gerard Davis (Green) and Stephen Neal Jr. (No Labels) are also running.

Two decent people who both say this is a safety job, not a political one.

The commission sets utility rates. Two seats are open and you can vote for two.

We describe what each proposition does and don't make recommendations. All eight were put on the ballot by the Republican-led Legislature, so the governor could not veto them. Props 141, 142 and 144 amend the state constitution; the rest change state law.

• Prop 141, mileage taxes: Bars state and local governments from taxing or charging fees by the miles you drive, and from tracking or limiting how far you drive without your consent. Government vehicles and interstate commercial trucks are exempt. Arizona has no such tax today.
• Prop 142, race in public institutions: Bars the state, including public schools and universities, from requiring anyone to endorse preferential treatment based on race or ethnicity, from funding offices or trainings that promote it, from treating people differently by race in discipline, and from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion courses. State and federal anti-discrimination law still applies.
• Prop 144, voter ID and citizenship: Writes into the constitution that only citizens may register and vote, and requires government-issued ID to vote, including by mail (today mail voters don't show ID). Bans foreign nationals from giving money to influence Arizona elections, and starting in 2028 lets voters have their ballots counted at their polling place on Election Day.
• Prop 316, grocery taxes: Caps city and local sales taxes on groceries at 2% and requires voter approval to raise them. Places already above 2% keep their rate but can't raise it. The state doesn't tax groceries.
• Prop 317, drug cartels: Declares drug cartels terrorist organizations and tells the state Department of Homeland Security to do everything it can to address them. That department hands out grants and is not a police agency. Gov. Hobbs vetoed a similar bill in 2023.
• Prop 318, restrooms and sports: Requires all schools and athletic associations to limit restrooms, locker rooms and showers by sex as listed on a person's original birth certificate, for students, athletes and employees. It also bars girls from boys' teams; state law already bars boys from girls' teams.
• Prop 319, traffic cameras: Bans new red-light and speed cameras. Cities that already have them must win voter approval in November 2027 to keep them, and again every ten years. Gov. Hobbs vetoed a similar bill in 2023.
• Prop 320, classroom spending: Requires school districts with more than 7,500 students, or in counties over 500,000 people, to spend at least 60% of their budgets on direct instruction, with the state auditor general defining what counts.
• Supreme Court: Justice John Lopez IV, appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey in 2016, is up for a yes-or-no retention vote. We haven't profiled him.

Two seats, but only one Democrat is running. We picked only Gusse.

Open seat.

Two seats.

Not yet researched; the pick goes to the Democrat as a tie.

Two seats. Not yet researched; the picks go to the Democrats as a tie.

Two seats. Not yet researched; the picks go to the Democrats as a tie.

Not yet researched; the pick goes to the Democrat as a tie.

Two seats.

Also on Maricopa and Yuma county ballots.

Two seats.

District 20: Senate, Alma Hernandez (D); House, Sally Ann Gonzales and Betty Villegas (D).

• All county voters. Raises the state-set cap on what the county may spend, permanently adding $70 million to its 1979-80 base. In 2027-28 the limit would go from about $817 million to about $1.43 billion.
• It doesn't raise a tax by itself. The county says it plans to use only part of the room at first, about $84 million in 2027-28, paid for from existing state and local revenue. Pamphlet with arguments for and against (PDF).

• Tucson voters only. Grants Tucson Electric Power a franchise to run its power lines in city streets and rights-of-way, in return for a franchise fee to the city.

• Tucson voters only. Renews the city's one-tenth-cent sales tax for the Reid Park Zoo for 20 more years, 2028 through 2047, for repairs, exhibits, operations and maintenance.

• All county voters. Lets the college borrow up to $250 million for land, buildings and equipment. Listed uses include first responder and paramedic training, moving its police headquarters to the Downtown Campus, teacher education, cyber and IT programs, the arts and STEM spaces.

• Lets the county's Joint Technical Education District borrow up to $250 million for land, buildings, equipment and technology for its career and technical education campuses.

• Continues the district's 12.5% budget override for seven more years, about $5.1 million in 2027-28, at an estimated $1.61 per $100 of assessed value.

• Renews and raises the district's budget override to 15% for seven years, at an estimated $1.31 per $100 of assessed value. Without it, the current override phases out by 2030-31.

• Continues the district's 15% budget override for seven years, at an estimated $0.88 per $100 of assessed value. Without it, the current override phases out by 2030-31.

• Lets the district sell, lease or trade five properties, including the Copper Creek, Donaldson and Holaway elementary school sites and the Amphitheater Land Lab, and spend the money on buildings, buses and other capital costs. The district says it has no current plan to sell.

• Lets the district borrow up to $73 million over as long as 20 years to build, repair and equip fire stations and buy land and equipment.

• Oro Valley voters only. Approves "OV's Path Forward," the town's new 10-year general plan. A no vote keeps the 2016 plan in place.