All five Yuma County Supervisor seats are on the ballot in the upcoming election and all will essentially be decided in the Primary Election on July 30th.
District 1 Supervisor Martin Porchas is a Democrat who was first elected to the Board in 2016 and is the current Board Chair. A plant researcher at the University of Arizona, Porchas has also served as Mayor of Somerton and on several local boards, including the Western Council of Governments Executive Board, the Greater Yuma Economic Development Council Board and the Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Porchas faces no opposition for his District 1 seat in the primary, and no candidate from the opposing party in the General Election in November.
Republican District 2 Supervisor Jonathon Lines is also running unopposed in the Primary and General Elections. A lifelong Yuman, Lines has served as Chair of the Arizona Republican Party and on the Arizona Mexico Commission.
District 3 Supervisor Darren Simmons also faces no opposition to retain his seat on the Board.
Simmons served in the Marine Corp before working nearly three decades at the Yuma County Sheriff’s Department.
Democrat Lynne Pancrazi, of District 5, will also face no opponents as she looks to keep her seat for four more years.
The former teacher served in the Arizona Legislature and Senate for a decade and has served on several local boards.
That leaves District 4 as the only contested seat among the Yuma County Supervisor races.
But that race too will essentially be decided in the Primary Election as Democratic incumbent Tony Reyes faces a challenge from fellow Democrat Luisa Arreola.
Reyes has served as Vice-Mayor of San Luis, where he lives, and served on several local boards, including the Western Arizona Council of Governments, the National League of Cities and Towns and the Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Arreola is an educator from San Luis. She serves on the Somerton Elementary School Board and was member of Governor Katie Hobbs Educator Retention Task Force.
Kika Guzman, Elections Services Director for Yuma County tells KAWC that the candidate who receives the largest number of votes are declared the party nominee for that office and are issued a certificate of nomination to advance to the General Election.
Guzman says a recount is automatic if the margin of votes between the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for a particular office are equal to ½ of 1% of the total number of votes cast.
And while unopposed candidates will be listed on the ballot alone, write-in candidates are still an option.
Guzman says for a write-in candidate to become the nominee of a party with continued representation on the ballot, the candidate must receive the largest number of votes and at least as many votes as the number of nomination petition signatures required.
To see a list of Official Candidate on the ballot in Yuma County click here.
