Now there are six in Ward 6.

Bruce Wheeler, a former Tucson City Council member and, more recently a state lawmaker, and Jim Sinex, who has taught science at Tucson High, both filed statements of interest in the race last week, joining the four candidates who were already seeking to represent the Midtown ward.

There is no incumbent in the Ward 6 race because Councilmember Karin Uhlich is not seeking to keep her seat. Uhlich, who previously represented Ward 3 on the City Council (twice), was appointed to the seat in May 2024 after Democrat Steve Kozachik resigned.

Wheeler has a long political history in Tucson. He was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 1974, at the age of 26. 

“I lost reelection in 1976 by 15 votes!” Wheeler told the Tucson Sentinel.

He won election to the Tucson City Council in 1987 and served two terms representing Ward 1 before losing a mayoral primary to fellow Democrat George Miller in 1995. After more than a decade out of politics, he returned to the Arizona Legislature for three terms after winning a Midtown state House of Representatives seat in 2010.

In 2018, he ran for U.S. Congress, saying he had been inspired to seek the seat after Donald Trump won the presidency. He was among those who came up short in a crowded seven-way Democratic primary that saw Ann Kirkpatrick pull out a win.

He said Trump’s reelection last November likewise got him thinking about running for the Tucson City Council again.

He said he felt “a gradual sense of what’s going on here. It’s local, it’s state, it’s national, it’s international, but locally, City Council, you know, there’s important issues coming up that I feel very strongly about.”

Those issues include Tucson’s water future, public safety and the location of TEP’s utility lines. 

Wheeler was critical of the current City Council for asking for a half-cent sales tax increase via Prop. 414, the Safe & Vibrant City Initiative that voters will decide in March, after they had voted to eliminate bus fares and given up $13 million in annual revenue.

“We’re losing $13 million a year just on the so-called free bus fare and so we’ve got to re-prioritize things,” Wheeler said, “and if we’re talking about seriously addressing public safety and housing, those priorities might be more important than free bus fares.”

Sinex has previously advocated advocated for a change in Tucson’s current election system, which has candidates run within their wards in the primary race, but citywide in the general.

Democrats have a significant voter-registration advantage over Republicans citywide, with nearly two Democrats for every Republican. Overall, Democrats make up 42 percent of voters, Republicans make up 22 percent and independent voters make up 36 percent of voters.

It’s not impossible for a Republican to win a seat on the City Council, but the last GOP candidate to win at the ballot box was Kozachik, who captured the Ward 6 seat in 2009. He switched his registration to Democrat before his next election.

Republican Bob Walkup served as mayor from 1999 to 2011.

Sinex said the system was fundamentally flawed.

“My top priority is to build a better election system,” Sinex said via email. “Finding a means toward achieving a better system must include the electorate. I have plenty of good ideas, but we would need a wider input to move forward with a good plan.”

Voters have rejected changing the city’s election system, and the municipal government has successfully defended it from Republican attempts to change it via state legislation.

Sinex and Wheeler join an already crowded field in the Aug. 5 primary, with nominating petitions due Monday, April 7.

Democrat Miranda Schubert gathered supporters for her campaign’s launch party at the Historic Y in the West University Neighborhood on Saturday, Jan. 25.

“I think we have a tremendous opportunity to make change, to make our streets safe and functional for all users, to make sure everybody has a roof over their heads,” Schubert told the crowd. “You know, we have so many diverse folks in the city, and our housing stock should reflect that, but we can do that in a way that is sensitive to the environment, sensitive to our historic preservation priorities, and sensitive to the input of the public.”

Schubert, who works in an administrative role at community radio station KXCI, 91.3 FM, has served on the city’s Board of Adjustment and the Complete Streets Coordinating Council, where she has been an advocate for more bike lanes and more sidewalks.

 She also founded Tucson for Everyone, an organization that advocates for affordable housing and free and expanded public transit.

Schubert is making her second run for the Ward 6 seat. She captured 28 percent of the vote against Kozachik in the 2021 Ward 6 primary.

Schubert has landed longtime environmental leader Carolyn Campbell and local architect Corky Poster as co-chairs of her campaign.

Theresa Riel, a retired math teacher and a member of the Pima Coummunity College Governing Board, filed a statement of organization on Jan. 7.

Riel told the Sentinel that her work with her Midtown neighborhood association and on the PCC board has prepared her for serving on the Tucson City Council.

Riel said she knocked on thousands of doors during her PCC campaign and expected to do the same for her City Council run.

“I’m sure I’m going to have the same kind of activities and connections to people in the ward about what it is they expect from their city,” Riel said. “I think it takes someone who really cares about community, who is willing to put the time and energy in.”

Charlie Verdin, who runs Fangamer, a company that sells T-shirts, toys and other accessories related to video games, filed his statement of organization on Dec. 18, 2024. Verdin flirted with a run for Congress in 2018 and ran unsuccessfully for the Arizona Legislature in 2020. He was among the applicants for appointment to the Ward 6 seat last year.

He said he was running because he was concerned about rising housing costs.

He added that he wanted to be a City Council member that members of the public could approach with their problems.

“I think that that accessibility is another huge part of what I am aiming for as a City Council person,” Verdin said. “I want to be able to engage with people directly and help them solve their problems.”

Leighton Rockafellow Jr., a personal injury attorney who is making his first run for public office, filed his statement of organization on Dec. 9.

“With the upcoming Community Corridors Tool and RTA Next proposal, we are at a crossroads regarding the future of development, the future of our streets, and the future of our housing.” Rockafellow said. “I am the Ward 6 candidate with the personal skills, personal knowledge and background to guide our local government toward the path that leads to a better Tucson for all.”

Ward 5: Lugo lands F. Ann Rodriguez as co-chair

Four Democrats are eyeing campaigns in the Ward 5 race: Jesse Lugo, Selena Barajas, Christoper Elsner and Richard Hernandez.

Councilman Richard Fimbres, first elected in 2009, told the Sentinel in January that he wouldn’t be seeing a fifth term.

Lugo, who has filed a statement of organization in the race, praised Fimbres’ work representing Ward 5 and pledged to follow in his footsteps.

“Your council member’s primary responsibility is to make sure Ward 5 residents are safe with quality police protection, garbage picked up on time, clean safe water, transportation alternatives and safe roads to get to work and play, parks and recreation for our families, a fire department that responds quickly to emergencies,” Lugo said in a prepared statement last week. “As importantly, your council member must listen to residents, hear their concerns, and always be available to assist with city related issues that might develop. That is my commitment to Ward 5 residents if they elect me.”

The Tucson native announced F. Ann Rodriguez, who served seven terms as Pima County recorder after first winning office in 1992, was co-chairing his campaign.

Rodriguez said Lugo had demonstrated his commitment to Tucson by serving on various boards and commissions, including budget oversight positions. She added that he had been the driving force behind the charity program Bike in a Box, which gives away bicycles to kids at Christmastime.

“Jesse has demonstrated his commitment to the city of Tucson and, when elected to be your city of Tucson Ward 5 councilmember, will continue to be an advocate for his and your community,” Rodriguez said in a prepared statement.

Lugo previously ran for City Council in 2001.

Barajas, a UA grad who earned a master’s degree in planning at UCLA,
has been involved in transportation planning and climate change
adaptation efforts in Tucson. She filed a statement of organization for
her campaign on Jan. 27.

Elsner has filed a statement of interest in the race but has not yet filed a statement of organization. Candidates must file a statement of interest before they begin
collecting signatures on their nominating petitions. Before they raise
more than $500, they must file a statement of organization. (Candidates
who plan to participate in the city’s publicly financed campaign
program, which provides a dollar-for-dollar match of individual campaign
contributions to qualified candidates, must file a statement of
organization before collecting nomination signatures, raising funds or
spending money.)

“Tucson faces many challenges going forward including housing affordability and accessibility, upgrading public infrastructure, ensuring adequate funding for city services and public safety, and making sure our community is resilient and adaptable to climate change,” said Elsner, a newcomer to city politics. “However, I’m sure there are a lot of other issues the residents of Ward 5 are worried about, and I’m excited to meet with them and listen to their concerns as I seek the Democratic nomination for the ward.”

Elsner grew up in Pinetop-Lakeside and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Northern Illinois University. He served two years in the Peace Corps in Ukraine before moving to Tucson in 2011 to attend grad school, where he earned a master’s degree in public administration and a graduate certificate in entrepreneurship.

Hernandez, who has filed a statement of interest in October of last year but has not filed a statement of organization, won 14 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary for the District 2 seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2020. 

Hernandez made an aborted run for the Pima Community College Governing Board in 2024 but withdrew after filing his nominating petitions.

Ward 3: Dahl picks up potential primary challenger

In Ward 3 on the North Side, Councilman Kevin Dahl, who is seeking a second term, may have a primary challenger after Democrat Alma Gordon filed a statement of interest in the race on Jan. 22.

Gordon works as an organizational consultant, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She did not respond to an email from the Sentinel regarding her campaign.

Dahl said he wanted to a second term to continue various projects in Ward 3.

“After a little over three years, I feel that the Ward 3 office and myself are reaching a good stride, a good understanding of how to get things done, and there’s still so much to do,” Dahl said. “I’m proud of our accomplishments. I’m proud of how good my staff is, especially at constituent concerns and trying to get people help. And my work’s not over.”

Plus, he added, “I got permission from my wife.”

No Republican candidates have filed statements of interest in any of the wards, but Pima County Republican Party Chairwoman Kathleen Winn told the Sentinel in December that she expects the GOP will field candidates in all three races despite the party’s voter-registration disadvantage.

Tucson holds city elections in odd-numbered years. Mayor Regina Romero and Councilmembers Lane Santa Cruz (Ward 1), Paul Cunningham (Ward 2), and Nikki Lee (Ward 4) were elected to four-year terms in 2023.