Liermann keeps steady lead in council race

Amber Liermann has maintained the lead she garnered early in Tuesday’s voting and is set up to be the newest member of the Maricopa City Council.

In the unofficial count, Liermann has a 55%-44% lead over Andre LaFond.

“Things are going very well and I’m feeling extremely humbled,” Liermann said. “It’s a very overwhelming feeling to have people support you and work as a volunteer for you. People gave up time from the families, and to make you a priority is a very humbling experience.”

LaFond said the campaign had been difficult to read without reliable polling.

“The only thing I could run off of was the previous election results, which was neck-and-neck,” he said, referring to the primary. “And then just the sheer amount of support I had online and in person.”

His band of volunteers turned out for him at every poll on Election Day while he greeted voters where he could.

Like LaFond, Liermann spent Election Day at the polls. She said people shared with her what they want her to do as a councilmember. They want more businesses of all sizes to come to Maricopa.

“That’s a very exciting role to play, to encourage and promote businesses to come to Maricopa,” she said.

She also received support for growing mental health and medical services in town.

Countywide, there are still 41,000 early ballots to be counted and 1,800 provisional ballots, according to Pinal County Elections Department. If Liermann’s current lead remains, she will be sworn into office in December.

She said she is more than ready to get started.

Liermann will have to balance a full-time job as a psychological counselor at Maricopa High School with new duties as a councilmember. She said she has received tips from current and former councilmembers.

That included Will Dunn, whom she has known for 17 years.

“He encouraged me to carve out very specific time in my week to review the documents in preparation for the council meetings, which I plan on doing,” Liermann said. “I have received excellent advice from former councilmembers and current councilmembers on how to manage my time.”

Still, she has the mindset that the count is not over and is not taking anything for granted.

“It’s not too premature to thank my campaign committee and all my volunteers,” she said. “I had volunteers at every poll site working from morning ‘til night yesterday, and I just want to thank them because that was incredible.”