Update: Griffin secures Council seat; Brown, Dunn, Diedrich, Haddad advance

Marquisha Griffin received votes on 726 of the 1,339 ballots cast (54 percent) earning a seat on Maricopa’s City Council. Marvin Brown and Carl Diedrich will join incumbents Will Dunn and Kelly Haddad on the ballot for the May 20 general election.

According to Gilberto Hoyos, director of the Pinal County Elections Department, the top four remaining vote-getters will advance to the general election to compete for the remaining two Council positions, eliminating three candidates.

“They get, quote, totally eliminated… they’re out,” Hoyos said of Marty Hermanson, Robert Lewis and Camerino Lopez, clearing confusion among candidates and voters alike. The city clerk’s office previously reported that all candidates not winning in the primary would be on the general election ballot.

According to Pinal County Elections, 1,339 of Maricopa’s 12,483 registered voters turned out for Tuesday’s election.

Incumbent Kelly Haddad just made the cut garnering 391 votes, 42 votes ahead of Hermanson who finished sixth and out of the general election running.

“First and foremost I’d like to congratulate the community for having a wonderful turnout at the polls,” Haddad said of the 10.73 percent voter turnout.

“It is evident by the results of yesterday’s election that I’ve been unsuccessful in reaching out to the community to provide to them that the experience and knowledge I bring to the table are necessary to be an effective member of the Council,” Haddad said Wednesday morning. “Over the next couple of months I will work harder to do so.”

And without a doubt, Brown, Diedrich and Dunn will be campaigning equally hard between now and May 20.