Incumbents Prevail

The incumbents have prevailed in the Oro Valley recall election. Council members Hornat and Waters won over Oro Valley resident challengers Ryan Hartung and Steve Didio by slim majorities after counting of all votes. Mayor Hiremath and Council Member Snider defeated their opponents by larger margins. You can view vote tally's here.

Oro Valley to continue its march to be a commercial center
The result of the election leaves Mayor Hiremath and Council Members Hornat, Snider and Waters free to continue their quest to make Oro Valley a commercial center by design. They will continue in these council seats through 2018.

Super-Majority at stake in next election
The next election is for the 3 council seats occupied by minority members Burns, Garner and Zinkin. The runoff for this election is next August during the partisan elections. Voter turnover will be light and lack the votes of independents as this is a partisan election. The final election for these seats will be in November if those running do not reach sufficient majority to be elected in August.

The relevance of this election is that a super-majority is at stake. The Majority-4 will have absolute power if they can support the successful election of an individual who will vote in lock-step with them. A super-majority is 5 of 7 votes, It is required in order to make major amendments to the general plan.

Hartung and Didio thank supporters
In an email to supporters, Ryan Hartung asked for unity in Oro Valley:

"By looking at the vote tallies and knowing the feelings of the people I talked to going door to door, the community is completely divided on the purchase of the golf course, how it was handled and what to do with it going forward. My last request of everyone receiving this email or reading this online is that we give the full Town Council our support moving forward. Yes we need to hold them accountable for their actions, but we mustn't let the El Conquistador continue to divide our community; it is now in the past. With the failure of the bonds, the Council cannot just skip over the golf losses, as there is no knight in shining armor coming to our rescue. Decisions will have to be made."

Steve Didio thanked his supporters:

"You all have been incredible supporters, confidants, advisors and friends, and I thank you very much for that. As I told Nan today, the people we've met throughout this experience are among the finest group of people we've had the privilege to know. We really hope to stay connected with each of you! So regardless of the ultimate outcome of the election, let's move forward and continue to insist that the citizens of Oro Valley be heard on every major issue on the town. The opposition may not embrace that model currently, but they will have to come around or become extinct. We have set the stage for change in this town. "