The July 21 primary election saw an overhaul of Miami's Town Council and a new face added to the Globe City Council, according to unofficial results from the Gila County Department of Elections.
Four incumbents and four challengers were running for four seats. Two of the challengers were comfortably ahead as of July 23; John Barajas earned the most votes with 172, and John Soderman was second with 153 votes. Incumbent Councilman Michael Sosh looked to keep his seat, earning 126 votes. Coming in fourth was challenger Ray Webb with 79 votes — a return to the dais for Webb, a two-time former councilman.
Incumbents Jose "Angel" Medina Sr., Dan Moat, and Don Reiman were trailing, with Moat earning 70 votes, Medina 55, and Reiman 42. The fourth challenger, Rick Hall, garnered 62 votes.
Four seats were also up for election in Globe's City Council, but only one race was contested. In his second run for the District 5 council seat, challenger Matthew Storms defeated incumbent Mariano Gonzalez, 86 to 82. Storms previously faced Gonzalez in the 2022 election, which Gonzalez won by 14 votes.
Incumbent councilmen Jesse Leetham of District 3, Fernando Shipley of District 6, and Vice Mayor Mike Stapleton of District 4, all ran unopposed and will retain their council seats. Leetham received 221 votes, Stapleton 165 and Shipley 136.
There were no surprises in the primary elections for Gila County offices, with seven incumbents running unopposed and cruising to victory. With no general election opponent, six of them will retain their offices:
The seventh primary-winning incumbent, Clerk of the Superior Court Anita Escobedo – D, will face Independent candidate Yvette Hoffman in November.
According to Gila County Department of Elections unofficial results, voter turnout for the primary was 38%, with 13,205 ballots cast out of 34,258 registered voters.
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