Pinal County

Justice courts handle evictions, small claims, traffic cases and protective orders. We know too little about either candidate to rate them, so this is a toss-up and the pick goes to the Democrat.

The Central Pinal Justice Court in Coolidge serves Florence, Coolidge and Eloy. Neither candidate has much of a public record, so this is a toss-up and the pick goes to the Democrat.

Constables serve court papers and carry out evictions for the justice court. Toss-up; the pick goes to the Democrat.

Toss-up; the pick goes to the Democrat.

Doug Coleman and Kim Grady are running for this nonpartisan seat on the community college board. We couldn't find reporting on this race, so we haven't rated it.

Clerk of the Superior Court (Rebecca Padilla, R); Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 (Shaun Babeu, R), Precinct 4 (Patricia Glover, R), Precinct 5 (Nancy Discher, R) and Precinct 6 (Kelly Gremmel, R); Constable Precinct 2 (Scott Elliott, R), Precinct 4 (William Griffin, R) and Precinct 5 (Christopher Alvarado, R). Constable Precinct 3 has only a write-in candidate, Shanna Martinez. The Central Arizona Water Conservation District seat was canceled for lack of a contest, and incumbent Stephen Miller was declared elected.

Yes or no on keeping five Pinal County Superior Court judges: Daniel A. Washburn, Delia R. Neal, Danielle Harris, Jessica K. Dixon and Karen F. Palmer. We haven't profiled judges. The state's Judicial Performance Review commission rates each one at azjudges.info. The Supreme Court and Court of Appeals retention votes are in the State and federal section.

Two seats. Five candidates with solid backgrounds and no red flags we could find. We picked the career educator and the incumbent with the deepest community ties; Coutre and Williams are also decent choices. InMaricopa, the source for these profiles, is owned by City Councilmember Vincent Manfredi.

We couldn't find enough reporting on these races to rate anyone. Apache Junction Unified, two seats: Gilbert "Gil" K. Cancio, Chelsea Connolly, Dena Kimble, Sharon Williams. Casa Grande Union High School District, two seats: Stephen Hayes, Michael Packard, Micah Powell. J.O. Combs Unified, two seats: Michael Goldstein, Brenda Rhoads, Melissa Valenzuela-Settle. Mammoth-San Manuel Unified, three seats: Earle Andrade Sr., Victoria DeVries, Louis Madrid, Daniel Najera. Ray Unified, two seats: Ashley Bravo, Tino Flores, Terrece Flowers, Scott Warren; and one two-year seat: Rikki Galka, Valerie Kelley.

Two seats. O'Jon and Wade lean furthest toward housing, youth, seniors and veterans; Dugan is also a good choice. We marked Manfredi compromised because he owns the city's main news outlet while serving on the council it covers.

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.

Covers most of Pinal County, including Casa Grande (part), Maricopa, Florence, Coolidge and Kearny.

Covers Apache Junction, San Tan Valley and part of Gold Canyon in Pinal County. Open seat: Rep. Andy Biggs is running for governor.

Covers part of Casa Grande plus Eloy, Arizona City, Oracle, San Manuel, Mammoth and SaddleBrooke.

Covers only a few Tohono O'odham communities in Pinal County, such as Chuichu.

Covers San Tan Valley, Apache Junction and eastern Pinal, plus parts of Gila, Navajo and Coconino counties.

Two seats. Both Republicans backed false claims about the 2020 election, so the second pick goes to the Green candidate, about whom we know little.

Covers part of San Tan Valley and Queen Creek. The House seats here are uncontested (see below).

Covers Casa Grande, Maricopa, Eloy, Coolidge, Arizona City and the Ak-Chin community, plus Marana in Pima County.

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

Open seat. Mostly in Pima County; in Pinal it covers a handful of precincts around SaddleBrooke and Oracle.

Two seats.

Only one Pinal precinct is in this district, which is mostly in Maricopa, Pima and Yuma counties.

Two seats.

District 15 House: Neal Carter and Michael Way (both R) have no opponent. District 6, which has just one Pinal precinct, is not profiled here: Senate, Jamescita Peshlakai (D) vs. Lloyd Johnson (R); House, Mae Peshlakai (D), Ian Teller (D), Brendan Trachsel (Green) and write-in Royce Jenkins (R).

• Maricopa Unified voters only. Continues the district's budget override, extra local property tax funding that voters approved in 2016 and renewed in 2021. Supporters say it pays for smaller classes, classroom technology and the RAM Academy credit-recovery program. Supporters' letter (InMaricopa).

• City of Casa Grande, Prop 407.
• City of Eloy, Props 408 and 409.
• Town of Kearny, Prop 410.
• Town of San Tan Valley, Prop 411.
• City of Coolidge, Prop 412.
• Town of Florence, Prop 413.
• City of Maricopa, Prop 414.

• Coolidge Unified, Prop 415.
• Pima JTED, Prop 427: a bond measure for the career and technical education district, on some Pinal ballots. The Pima County guide has details.