District 23 seat still up for grabs

The fate of three candidates for a seat in Arizona’s House of Representatives is still undecided despite the return of 100 percent of yesterday’s General Election ballots. Some early ballots, provisional ballots and conditional provisional ballots have yet to be counted.

Democrat Pete Rios has a commanding 3,152 vote lead in the race and appears to have secured one of the two seats representing Maricopa and the rest of District 23 in the House. For the moment, fellow Democrat Barbara McGuire is second in voting with 16,693 votes. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, Republicans Frank Pratt and John Fillmore are just 173 and 1,162 votes behind McGuire, respectively, and still have a chance to claim victory.

Between early ballots that were turned in at the polls, provisional ballots and conditional provisional ballots, approximately 2,000 votes could still be cast. It could be a week or longer before the winners are announced. Gilbert Hoyos, Director of the Pinal County Elections Department, said, “I’m hoping the 16th or 17th.”

Pratt (1,670 votes) and Fillmore (1,558) dominated Democratic opponents Rios (1,367) and McGuire (1,193) in Maricopa precincts 30, 31, 73 and 74, but have lagged behind in other parts of Pinal County and sections of Gila and Maricopa counties that make up District 23.