Romero said she would keep her door open to the proponents of Prop. 205, the sanctuary city initiative that was soundly defeated by city voters
By Joe Ferguson | Arizona Daily Star
Tucson voters have elected their first Latina to serve as mayor.
Three-term Councilwoman Regina Romero, who takes office next month, is the first woman to hold the city’s top elected job and will be the second Hispanic to be elected mayor of Tucson since the Gadsden Purchase. She will succeed Mayor Jonathan Rothschild as the city’s leader.
Romero defeated independent Ed Ackerley and Green Party candidate Mike Cease by a comfortable margin with roughly 87,000 ballots cast.
Unofficial results Tuesday night had Romero with 56% of the vote, although city officials estimate there are several thousand ballots that have not been counted.
Romero, the director of Latino engagement for the Center for Biological Diversity, was one of four Democrats elected Tuesday night to the Tucson City Council.
Voters were giving two-term incumbent Paul Cunningham another four years representing Ward 2 and two newcomers — University of Arizona adjunct instructor Lane Santa Cruz in Ward 1, and Raytheon employee Nikki Lee in Ward 4 — were leading their races.
All three council candidates had significant leads over their Republican and Green Party rivals, with an unknown number of ballots still to be counted.
Voter turnout was estimated at about 33% in the all mail-in election.
