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home / Government
Final election results: Price is new Mayor; Kimball, Potter, and Brown win Council seats
Shelley Gillespie
Friday, March 16, 2012
Final election numbers verified Christian Price’s win as Maricopa’s new mayor. With a total of 61% of the votes, 2,574 votes, Price is due to be sworn in during the City Council meeting on June 5. Current Council Member Carl Diedrich improved his numbers since the Tuesday evening count, but with 38% of the vote and 1,620 votes, he did not rally enough to be elected mayor.
For the three City Council seats, Bridger Kimball increased his tally to 2,795 votes; Leon Potter was second with 2,513 votes, and incumbent Marvin Brown claimed the third seat with 2,384 votes. A majority-plus-one vote of the 4,260 votes cast was required to be elected for the mail-in primary. With over 2,131 votes, each of the trio was automatically elected. Rosalin Sanhadja garnered 1,794 votes, so she was not in contention for a seat on the Council.
Maricopa has begun saving money with this election, as the clear winning margins make a general election unnecessary.
Election finals
Pinal County Elections Department Director Steve Kizer confirmed the above as final results. Kizer considered it ”a surprise at the low turnout in Maricopa.” The 4,260 votes with 21% of the registered electorate voting in the first time mail-in ballot was much lower than he expected, but his comparison was Florence with 52% of the voters mailing their ballots. Florence, however, only has around 4,000 voters.
Maricopa City Clerk Vanessa Bueras affirmed the final results of the election and commented that with “20,388 registered voters…compared to the last candidates only election in which 6% of the electorate voted…there was a good improvement with 21% voting.”
New mayor offers his focus
Mayor-elect Christian Price is an experienced financial planner. As such, he considers the budget to be of prime importance. For his first effort, Price plans to “just be on board with the back story,” the details of what is going on with the Council.
He plans to “bring the public along and (make them) a participant in the process,” as we “get our own house in order.” With a focus on budget and business, he hopes to make people “excited about coming here, living here, and spending money here.”
He is already juggling family and other priorities as he has spent the two days since the election responding to every one of over 150 calls, texts, and emails from well-wishers. Wanting “not to be beholden to anyone,” Price did not seek out endorsements. He and his family are “very excited” about this opportunity “for things we can do for others.”
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Shelley Gillespie
Citizen activist and now mayor, Christian Price was one of the leaders who fought for lower water rates increases at the Arizona Corporation Commission, middle row, third from left hearing.
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