/ Modified sep 6, 2019 12:39 p.m.

Journalists roundtable: primary night results and looking to the general

Plus, discussing growing opposition to the sanctuary city initiative.

Voters in Tucson can shift their attention to the general election in November now that the city has tallied ballots for its all-mail primary. The three-way race between Democratic candidates for mayor topped the ticket, and City Councilwoman Regina Romero easily won with about 50% of the vote.

Arizona 360 turned to the Arizona Daily Star’s Sarah Garrecht Gassen, the Tucson Sentinel’s Dylan Smith and Tucson Local Media’s Jim Nintzel to unpack the results in a journalists’ roundtable.

“Number one, I think Democrats are leaning toward women and people of color. All things being equal, there wasn’t a lot of difference between where these candidates stood on a lot of issues. So I think people were looking at secondary characteristics,” Nintzel said.

Romero’s opponent in the general election is independent Ed Ackerley, a longtime advertising executive and instructor at the University of Arizona.

“I think he’s going to pick up a little bit of support from especially some folks in the business community, Republicans who are adamantly opposed to Regina Romero being mayor. I don’t know if that’s going to be anywhere near enough support,” Smith said.

The conversation also covered another big item on November’s ballot: the sanctuary city initiative. Many government leaders have voiced opposition to the measure, including Romero.

“I have no doubt that the Republicans will mount a huge campaign about this because it is such a good ‘red meat’ talking point for the GOP. And I think it probably will fail, but I also can see it winning with people voting for it on the idea of it without really getting into understanding why this particular initiative is not a good idea,” Gassen said.

Arizona 360
Arizona 360 airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on PBS 6 and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on PBS 6 PLUS. See more from Arizona 360.
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