Alexia Sanchez, a high school teacher, encouraged her students to vote. She said she is excited to see many of her past students arriving to turn in their ballots.
Q: What are you doing here today?
A: Estoy muy impresionada porque ha habido mucha gente votando. Muchos jóvenes están votando; muchas generaciones de mis estudiantes pasados están votando, y me pone muy contenta. (I'm really impressed because I've been seeing so many people show up. Many young voters, generations of my past students are voting and that makes me really happy.)
Q: What are some things you hope to see changed?
A: En la comunidad local tenemos un problema con los empleos, y es algo que me estuvieron diciendo muchos estudiantes pasados con los que hablé. Les preguntaba, “¿Cómo te ha ido?”, y me decían: “No he encontrado trabajo”. Siento que ese es un gran problema, porque si bien tenemos mucha gente aquí, no hay suficientes trabajos para todos, y tienen que ir hasta Yuma o Somerton. (In our local community we have an issue with jobs and that's something that I heard from my students. I would ask them, "how are you doing?" and they would tell me: "I haven't found a job." That's a big issue because we have a lot of people here and there aren't enough jobs for everyone. People end up going to Yuma or Somerton.)
Q: What are your thoughts on the current administration in San Luis, Arizona?
A: Me gustaría que mejoraran la comunicación, que trabajaran más como un equipo y que se comunicaran más con la gente. También se debe informar a la gente; así votaría más gente, porque mucha gente es capaz, solo es cuestión de informar y comunicar. (I would like for them to better their communication, to work more like a team and for them to have transparency with people.)
Forty-five minutes before the polls closed at 7 p.m., we spoke with Linnette Corrales, a political consultant for Arizona List.
Q: How do you feel about tonight’s outcome?
A: I just think it’s such a big civic duty to vote because so many people gave their lives for our right to be here today.
Mr. Tirso Lopez was seated nearby the ballot box. Lopez has mobility issues, but he was greeting and thanking San Luis residents after they dropped off their ballots.
Q: What are some of the things you want to see changed for your community?
A: Mira, en esta administración del concilio ha habido muchos problemas con la mayoría. Yo pido que, gane quien gane, se unan por el bien del pueblo. (Look, in this city council we've had a lot of issues with the majority. All I was is that whoever wins, that they unify for the good of the town.)
It was a tailgate, but for election night: pizza, politics, primos and election protectors gathered in the parking lot of the San Luis library.
The predominant factor? Everyone spoke Spanish. It makes sense, as according to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 92% of the population is Hispanic and of Mexican descent.
“I don’t speak English very well,” said Ana Arreola, who told us she had left work and came straight to vote. Arreola voted for Democratic candidates and said she wanted to see a change in education and infrastructure.
“Ya San Luis, Arizona, necesita crecer en infraestructura, en vías viales. Nos quedamos como muy chiquitos. Como que no les interesa tanto nuestra frontera.” (San Luis needs to grow in infrastructure and roads. We’re staying too small. I feel like they don’t care about our border.)
For decades, Arreola has been an educator in San Luis. When asked about the current mayor, Nieves Riedel, she paused and explained:
“Pues ya tiene muchos años, como que es lo mismo. Hay gente nueva que puede aportar cosas nuevas a San Luis, Arizona.” (Well, she’s been there too many years; it feels like there’s no change. There’s new people who can bring new things to San Luis, Arizona.)
Mayor Nieves Riedel has served two non-consecutive mayoral terms: one in 2004 and another after being elected in 2022. Riedel did not run for reelection.
A new report from the Common Sense Institute ranks Arizona as one of the least affordable states in the country. Since 2019, household costs in the state have risen faster than the national average, with residents spending about $19,300 more per year on essential expenses, compared with the national average of $15,400.
Joel Acosta, who works in finance, says there are various ways representatives could work toward affordability for the community.
“Ya sea para que compren su primera casa, que los intereses bajen, so estamos tratando de impulsar eso.” (Whether it’s their first home purchase or for rates to go down, we’re trying to push for that.)
Alexa Gonzales expressed that she was enjoying the excitement of voting at the San Luis Library, saying it brought her a sense of community. When asked what she wanted to see changed, she replied:
“Mostly the economic insecurity that we’ve kind of been having, and the wages and all of that.”
Bertha Alicia Rodriguez Martinez was in a rush, yet she made time to make her voice count. She said she came to vote for improvements in education.
“Por las escuelas, que nos pongan más atención cuando haya problemas.” (For schools, we want more attention when there are issues.)
On her way out were Lorenia Lopez and her daughter. Lopez said she is voting for the San Luis her daughter will grow up in—a San Luis that has jobs and opportunities.
“I think it’s a community that needs some investment. There are some changes that have to be made, like infrastructure, or companies to come and bring more jobs to our community, because a lot of people have to migrate somewhere else in order to look for jobs.”
For Lopez, voting is a way to lead by example.
“I think she is gonna see me as a role model, that we need to speak up and come and vote to make a difference.”
Michael did not have a specific voting concern in mind, but was wearing merchandise from Liliana Arroyo, who ran for the Gadsden Elementary School District board and led with 20.46% of the votes, next to Maria Guzman, who gained 1,088 votes, accounting for 19.63%.
“I feel like every time you vote you speak for yourself and you speak your voice, so I guess it’s the right choice to just vote, man.”
A feature that made this polling site stand out from the rest was that, in San Luis, Arizona, candidates were tailgating and greeting voters on location. Matias Rosales and James Allen Jr. were present. Preliminary results obtained on Wednesday morning indicated that Matias Rosales won the San Luis mayoral race with 52.60%, while James Allen Jr. had a total of 1,253 votes, meaning 47.18% of the vote.
We asked Rosales what changes he would like for the city:
“Continue the infrastructure projects that we have and our youth sports. We have a growing community; San Luis is young, so we want to make sure everyone has a little bit of the American dream here in San Luis.”
In the meantime, James Allen Jr. is waiting until each vote is counted.
“I am very optimistic, but I don’t believe in claiming anything until the last vote is counted because I think that’s prideful. I don’t believe in counting chickens before they’re hatched.”
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Voter in South County
