Another Friday update in ongoing vote count for city council race

After another day of counting early and provisional ballots, political newcomer Amber Liermann remains in third place in the race for Maricopa City Council.

Liermann, a Maricopa Unified School District counselor, is less than one percentage point ahead of incumbent councilwoman Julia Gusse, a program coordinator at Arizona State University and a licensed Realtor.

In the latest update, Liermann saw her vote percentage climb to 16.05%, with Gusse at 15.65%.

They appear destined for a runoff in November’s general election to fill the third open seat on council, though challenger Andre LaFond is right on Gusse’s heels.

Incumbent councilmember Nancy Smith and challenger Bob Marsh appear to have secured their seats on council in Tuesday’s election. Smith was the leading vote-getter, with 20.34% of the vote, and Marsh was second with 18.94%.

The Pinal County Elections Office said it had about 3,000 early ballots and 182 provisional ballots remaining to process. There will be another update on Saturday.

Six candidates, including Linette Caroselli and Andre LaFond, were in the race. Here are the latest unofficial vote percentages for each candidate:

Nancy Smith 20.34% (4,076 votes)
Bob Marsh 18.94% (3,795)
Amber Liermann 16.05% (3,216)
Julia Gusse 15.65% (3,137)
Andre LaFond 15.63% (3,132)
Linette Caroselli 12.98% (2,601)