Riggs holds narrow lead in Justice of the Peace primary

Lyle Riggs led Russ Kimball by 129 votes in early results Tuesday in the Maricopa Justice of the Peace Republican primary.

Lyle's 746 votes were enough to lead Kimball's 617 after 1,376votes had been counted in the Maricopa Justice of the Peace Republican primary.

As of 11:25 p.m., 3 of the 14 precincts had reported.

The winner will face Councilwoman Julia Gusse, running as an Independent and Kevin Taylor, the Democratic candidate, in the general election on November 4.

The elected Justice of the Peace will preside over Maricopa’s Justice Court, which has jurisdiction over a wide variety of small to mid-size criminal and civil court cases. The court will handle civil cases worth up to $10,000 as well as any traffic violation and less severe criminal cases.

Lyle Riggs relied on his experience both as a judge and an attorney during his campaign, stating that he had 16 years as a lawyer before becoming a judge in 2011. Riggs believes that his experience and time spent learning from other judges are two of the things that set him apart from his competition.

Riggs is a native Arizonan who graduated at the top of his class from Casa Grande Union High School in 1984. Riggs teaches courses at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Central Arizona College as well.

Russ Kimball ran on the platform of “preserving and actually saving and restoring the Constitution.” Kimball spent nearly 30 years in various positions in Arizona’s law enforcement and used his desire to make life easier and safer for police officers and judges as one of his main running points.

Kimball is the father of city councilman Bridger Kimball and also owned a private investigations firm during the 1990s.