In the most competitive local election of the night, Ally Miller looks to be the winner over three other Republicans in the race to replace the retiring Pima County Supervisor Ann Day.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Miller had 38 percent of the vote.
“I’m happy I have a room full of supporters,” Miller said at her Election Night party at the Redline Sports Grill.
Miller, who will face Democrat Nancy Young Wright in the November general election, said her focus would be on creating jobs and fixing streets.
Former Arizona Republican Party chairman Mike Hellon, who was coming in second with 32 percent of the vote, was disappointed in the outcome, but said getting off the campaign trail would allow him to get back to playing golf.
“If the sun comes up tomorrow, everything is good,” Hellon said. “If I don’t win I’ll be able to work on my golf game, which has been lacking.”
Hellon added that he “didn’t particularly want to run. I had some people who convinced me that I could beat the Democrat. It’s always tough in a four-way Republican race with a Tea Party candidate.”
He expressed concern that Miller might not do well against Democrat Nancy Young Wright in the general election.
“That’s why I’m in the race,” he said. “Because I don’t think the others can win in the general election.”
State lawmaker Vic Williams, who was coming in third with 22 percent of the vote, said the result was “not what we want.”
“We worked hard and put out a good message, but unfortunately, it’s not reflecting in the poll numbers at this time,” Williams said.
At the Democratic Party celebration at El Casino ballroom, Wright said that expected to have to “work very hard” to beat Miller.
“We’re going to talk about the differences, we’re going to have a civil debate, I hope, and I am
looking forward to that,” Wright said.
UA journalism students Katherine Carroll, John Magee, Amanda Sedberry and Alyssa Reilly contributed to this report.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2012.
The Tea Party Republicans are a very strong presence in the Republican primary in Dist. 1, but I think Ally Miller’s Tea Party ties will be a turn off to the voters in the general election. How can she honestly say she is supportive of fixing streets? It was her Tea Party friends in the state legislature like Rep. Terri Proud & Sen. Al Melvin who “balanced” the state budget by “sweeping” money that was supposed to go towards Pima County roads & applying it to the state budget instead. Furthermore Miller is someone who is quick to criticize but unable to tolerate criticism directed at her which questions the accuracy of her charges. She would be a destructive force on the Board of Supervisors.
Who or what is an Ally Miller, except a pretty face on a sign? She has said nothing, and done nothing.
I am quite disappointed, and as much as I dislike what Nancy Young Wright stands for, maybe I just ought to congratualte her in advance, as the Republicans have squandered their chances at that seat in November.
When someone says “Tea Party”, my first question is, “Which Tea Party are you?. The one which truly advocates a smaller, less intrusive government, or the one of the religious/social right fruitcakes, who, like their Democratic counterparts, want to use the power of government to protect us from ourselves, because, in their minds, they know better than us what is good for us?”
You may try to tie her to what the legislature did but they people of the north side saw that Vic Williams who was in the legislature, who was responsible for sweeping funds did not represent them. We know what we want on the northside, growth and prosperity. Not the decrepit decline of tucson. The why people try “MOVE” mentality, (Marana, Oro Valley Experience). So the Tucson weekly is entitled to its opinions but your views are not those of the Northwest Side
I have to dispute the comments of Bryan Clymer. I have heard each of them discuss the issues myself and what you said is simply not so. Miller isn’t in any way part of the State Legislature. That was Williams. Miller wants to know where the money went that the County DID get. I share in wanting to know that. Further, when it came to giving actual data and facts, Miller was a fountain of information. If anything she needs to be more concise. She is prone to giving too much data.
I like people that want to get to the root of problems and fix them. I don’t find that destructive. Well I guess if your a status quo person you could find fixing problems destructive.
I guess the question is this, do you feel like Pima County is doing great and only getting better? If so vote for Wright. She is a status quo person. She agrees with the current leadership that the Board is doing a great job. However, if you feel like Pima County is on the wrong course and needs improved then vote for Miller.
By the way, the State didn’t ‘sweep’ HURF funds. They actually stayed about the same for Pima County. $38.7 million in 2010 to 38.9 million in 2011. What they reduced was the money given back for vehicle registrations and driver licences. About 5 million dollars. That 5 million is what is being exagerated as a ‘sweep’ implying that ALL the road funds were taken. This is simply not so. The data is on the AZDOT website for all to see. Fortunatly for the people tossing the word ‘sweep’ around, nobody checks it out for themselves. And let’s face it, the road funds have been misused by the County for a very long time. The roads didn’t get THIS bad in a year or two.
Let’s hold the County elected officials accountable for the County performance and the State elected officials for the State’s performance and not let the County folks blame the State or vise versa. Buck passing is unacceptable from leaders. People that engage in it aren’t up to the job and need to be replaced or not hired in the first place. Prefferably the latter.