Fimbres endorses Jesse Lugo in Ward 5 race; Barajas turns in petitions

Tucson City Councilmember Richard Fimbres says local businessman Jesse Lugo is his pick to replace him in the South Side seat.

Fimbres, in a March 24 letter shared with the Tucson Sentinel, said he was “endorsing Jesse Lugo as the candidate in the Ward 5 election this year.”

First elected to represent the South Side ward in 2009, Fimbres announced earlier this year that he would not seek a fifth term.

Lugo, who said he only wants to serve one term, plans to keep Fimbres’s staff on board if he’s elected.

“I told him: Give me a list of what you committed to neighborhoods and business,” Lugo said. “Four years ought to give me enough time to complete those projects if I can. That was my commitment.”

Lugo turned in his nominating petitions to run in the August 5 Democratic primary on Wednesday.

He has been involved in local politics for decades and ran unsuccessfully for the Arizona House of Representatives in 2000 and for the Ward 5 seat in 2001, when Lugo lost to Democrat Steve Leal by 568 votes.

The Tucson native, 71, started working at a Chevron service station at Speedway and 6th Avenue while still in high school and, by 1984, he owned it. By the time he sold it in 1997, he was lobbying for independent service station owners at both the state and federal level.

He is the CEO of Lugo and Associates, which works with gas stations to deliver fuel and develop business plans.

He’s been involved in numerous charitable efforts, including the annual Bike in a Box campaign, which distributes free bicycles to kids at the holidays.

Lugo said the city should focus on “core services: police, fire, transportation, parks and rec and courts, mandated by the city charter. Ain’t no wiggle room there. So you must fund it. In the past, it looks like they neglected to sure that police and fire get adequate funding.”

F. Ann Rodriguez, who served seven terms as Pima County recorder before retiring rather than seek another term in 2020, is co-chairing Lugo’s campaign along with former Tucson police officer and South Tucson Police Chief Sixto Molina, and retired Tucson firefighter Fred Fitzpatrick.

Lugo “represents Ward 5 on a lot of committees,” said Rodriguez. “He’s not bashful. He’ll ask a lot of questions.”

Barajas hands in petitions, seeks matching funds for campaign

One of Lugo’s opponents in the race, Democrat Selina Barajas, turned in her nominating petitions to the Clerk’s Office on Tuesday.

“The overwhelming support from Ward 5 residents is a testament to the shared vision we have for Tucson,” Barajas said. “From affordable housing to economic development, clean air and water, safer streets, and investing in our youth, I am committed to ensuring that our community’s needs remain at the forefront of city government.”

Barajas also submitted her paperwork to qualify for matching funds through the city’s publicly funded campaign program.

Candidates who participate in the city’s publicly financed campaign program receive a dollar-for-dollar match of individual campaign contributions after they qualify by collecting a minimum of 200 contributions of at least $10 from Tucson residents.

“Ward 5 deserves a leader who will advocate for safer streets, better parks, clean and safe water, stronger small businesses, affordable housing and access to home ownership and environmental justice,” Barajas said at her Feb. 22 campaign kickoff. “Because when we when we invest in our community, we build a stronger Tucson for seven generations to come.”

Barajas launched her campaign with endorsements from Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Ward 1 Councilmember Lane Santa Cruz, Pima County Supervisors Jennifer Allen, Matt Heinz and Adelita Grijalva (who resigned from the board this week), South Tucson Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela, former Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom and former Tucson police chief and city manager Richard Miranda.

Barajas is a University of Arizona graduate who earned a master’s degree in planning at UCLA. She previously helped manage the Sunnyside Foundation’s Community Investment Fund and calls herself a “creative entrepreneur” who is opening a South Tucson coffee shop, Luna y Sol Cafe, with her husband.

She is the leader of the Arizona chapter of Mountain Mamas, a nonprofit organization that lobbies elected officials on environmental issues.

Four other candidates had filed statements of interest in the Ward 5 race, but only one of them had set an appointment with the City Clerk’s Office to deliver nominating petitions before the deadline on Monday, April 7.

Christopher Elsner, a Peace Corps veteran who is making his first run for public office, is scheduled to deliver his signatures on Monday.

Elsner told Tucson Sentinel he wanted to focus on Tucson’s challenges, including “housing affordability and accessibility, upgrading public infrastructure, ensuring adequate funding for city services and public safety, and making sure our community is resilient and adaptable to climate change.”

Hip-hop artist Fabian Danobeytia told the Sentinel he planned to turn in his nominating petitions by April 7, but as of Tuesday morning, he had not made an appointment with election officials, according to Shawna Lee, a management coordinator with the City Clerk’s Office

Two other candidates who have filed statements of interest in race, park advocate Manon Getsi and political gadfly Richard Hernandez, have yet to file statements of organization. Neither returned an email from the Sentinel regarding their campaigns.

Candidates must file a statement of interest before they begin collecting signatures on their nominating petitions. Before they raise more than $500, they must file a statement of organization.

A Democratic candidate in Ward 5 needs to collect a minimum of 252 valid signatures from voters in the ward (as long as they are not registered Republicans or Libertarians) by April 7 to qualify for the ballot.

With the deadline to file nominating petitions less than a week away, no Republican or Libertarian candidates have filed statements of interest in the race. Republicans must file a minimum of 62 valid signatures on their nominating petitions, while Libertarians need to file three valid signatures.

Ward 6

In midtown Ward 6, Democrat Miranda Schubert filed her nominating petitions with the maximum number of signatures allowed, 1,151, on March 10.

Schubert also turned in her application for matching funds that day.

Three other Democrats and one Republican are seeking the Ward 6 seat, which has no incumbent because Councilmember Karin Uhlich is not seeking the office. Uhlich was appointed to the seat in May 2024 after Democrat Steve Kozachik resigned from the Council. She had previously served in Ward 3.

Attorney Leighton Rockafellow Jr. has an appointment to file his nominating petitions on Friday, while PCC Board member Theresa Riel and retired science teacher Jim Sinex both have appointments with the Clerk’s Office for next Monday.

Republican Jay Tolkoff, who used to own the PJ Subs “T6” Filling Station pub, also has an appointment to deliver his nominating petitions on Monday.

Schubert works an administrative role at community radio station KXCI, 91.3 FM and has served on the city’s Board of Adjustment and the Complete Streets Coordinating Council, where she has been an advocate for more bike lanes and more sidewalks.

She is making her second run for the Ward 6 seat. She captured 28 percent of the vote against Kozachik in the 2021 Ward 6 primary.

Riel is a retired math teacher and a member of the Pima Community College Governing Board who has been active in her Midtown neighborhood association.

Rockafellow Jr is, a personal injury attorney making his first run for public office.

Sinex, a retired science teacher whose top issue is “to build a better election system” because he believes the current one is unfair.

Republican candidates in Tucson have a rough road in Council races because Tucson’s election system requires candidates run within their wards in the primary race, but citywide in the general.

Democrats have a significant voter-registration advantage over Republicans citywide, with nearly two Democrats for every Republican. Overall, Democrats make up 42 percent of voters, Republicans make up 22 percent and independent voters make up 36 percent of voters.

The last GOP candidate to win at the ballot box was Kozachik, who captured the Ward 6 seat in 2009. He switched his registration to Democrat before his next election.

Republican Bob Walkup served as mayor from 1999 to 2011.

In Ward 6, Democrats need 576 signatures to make the primary ballot, while GOP candidates need 145 and Libertarians need five valid signers.

Ward 3

Ward 3 Counclmember Kevin Dahl, who is seeking a second term, has an appointment to turn in his nominating petitions on April 4.

Dahl told the Sentinel he would be filing his application for matching funds alongside his nominating paperwork on Friday.

TUSD Governing Board member Sadie Shaw, who hopes to challenge Dahl in the Democratic primary, said she had an appointment to deliver her nominating petitions on April 7.

Republican Janet Wittenbraker, who previously ran for mayor of Tucson in 2023 and for the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 2024, has set an April 7 appointment to deliver her nominating petitions. She told the Sentinel that she had already gathered enough signatures to make the ballot.

Ward 3 Dems need 391 signatures on nominating petitions, with Republicans needing 114 and Libertarians four signatures. The Green Party is not recognized to run in Tucson City elections, due to not having sufficient numbers of voters.

No Libertarian or independent candidates have filed statements of interest in City Council races this year.

Tucson holds city elections in odd-numbered years, outside of the presidential and midterm election cycles.

Mayor Regina Romero and Councilmembers Lane Santa Cruz (Ward 1), Paul Cunningham (Ward 2), and Nikki Lee (Ward 4) were elected to four-year terms in 2023.