The deadline for candidates wanting to run in Santa Cruz County elections to file candidacy passed earlier this week.
An official candidate list provided by county Elections Director Alma Schultz shows six candidates in the county sheriff race, as well as tight races in all three supervisory districts: three official candidates running in the magistrate race and two candidates running in the county assessor race.
Meanwhile, several incumbent elected officials, including County Treasurer Anita Moreno, Superior Court Judge Liliana Soto, County Attorney George Silva and County Superintendent Alfredo Velazquez, are running unopposed.
Here is the official list of candidates running in this county election season.
County Supervisor: 1st District
● Luis Carlos Davis, Democrat
● Mike Melendez, Republican
● Luis “Luis” Parra, Independent
● Robert Rojas, Democrat
Manuel Manny Ruiz, Democrat (incumbent)
Five official candidates, including the incumbent, are running for Superintendent of District 1. The superintendent seat is currently held by Superintendent Manuel Ruiz, who has served as superintendent for more than 20 years. Superintendent Ruiz also serves on the Nogales Unified School District Board of Trustees and has spent many years managing a non-profit apartment complex in the Monte Carlo area.
Local filmmaker and high school teacher Luis Carlos Davis is running against Lewis in the Democratic primary, while former Nogales City Councilman and NUSD board member Robert Rojas is also running as a Democrat.
The only independent running is Luis “Luis” Parra, and the only official Republican candidate is local business owner Mike Melendez.
District 1 covers a large swath of Nogales, including the downtown corridor, the airport and the Bayerville area.
County Supervisor: District 2
● Bettina Damon, Democrat
● Arturo Garino, Democrat
● Greg Lucero, Independent
Rudy “Buggs” Morella, Democrat (incumbent)
Gerald “Jerry” Navarro, Republican
There are five official candidates running for the District 2 seat currently held by Superintendent Rudy Morella. Superintendent Morella is the former track and field coach at Nogales High School and has held the District 2 seat since 2008.
Bettina Damon, a local teacher, is also officially running in the Democratic primary, and Arturo Garino, a property manager and former Nogales mayor, is also running as a Democrat.
Greg Lucero, a consultant, former county commissioner and former South 32 executive who serves on the NUSD board and Santa Cruz Center committee, is the only official independent candidate in the district, while former Department of Public Safety law enforcement officer Gerardo Navarro is running as a Republican.
The 2nd District includes several areas of Nogales, parts of western Rio Rico and the western edge of the county.
County Supervisor: District 3
Bruce Blacker, Democrat (incumbent)
● John Fanning, Democrat
● Jesus V. Jerez, Republican
The 3rd District, the largest geographically in the county, covers eastern Rio Rico and parts of eastern Santa Cruz County, including Patagonia, Sonoyta and Elgin. Three candidates will appear on the ballot in this election.
Superintendent Bruce Brucker is running again as a Democrat. Brucker, a Tubac resident who previously owned Brucker's Department Store and currently owns Zoolas restaurant in Nogales, has held his 3rd District seat since the 2016 election. There is only one other Democrat officially running: John Fanning, a former Rio Rico High School vice principal who is now outreach coordinator for the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District and director of the Santa Cruz Center.
Jesús V. Jerez, a former port superintendent for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will run as a Republican.
County Sheriff
● Jose “Joe” Agostini, Democrat
Travis Arnold, Independent
● Rafael “Raffita” Corrales
● David Hathaway, Democrat (incumbent)
● Andrew Ybarra, Democrat
● Mario Morales, Democrat
Six candidates are running for sheriff, including incumbent Sheriff David Hathaway, who was first elected in 2020 and previously served as a deputy sheriff and a special agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Former police officer Jose Agostini (D) is also running as a Democrat. Mario Morales was also a deputy in the Sheriff's Department before leaving the department last year. Rafael Corrales, a longtime deputy in the Sheriff's Department who also ran in 2020, is back in the running as an official candidate. Andrew Ibarra, a veteran with government experience, is also running as a Democrat.
The ballot will feature one independent candidate, Travis Arnold, a longtime employee of the Sheriff's Office.
County Assessor
● Octavio “Tabo” Gradillas, Democrat
Pablo Ramos, Democrat (incumbent)
Pablo Ramos has worked in the Assessor's Office for over 30 years, including more than 20 of those years as a Deputy Assessor.
Nogales City Councilman Octavio Gradillas also plans to run as a formal candidate for county assessor.
Gradillas, a former Nogales Police Department lieutenant who now works as a real estate agent, is due to finish his term as a city council member this year.
Justice of the Peace
● Miguel Lopez, Democrat (incumbent)
● Adriana Olathe, Democrat
● Rachel Sedgwick, Independent
Magistrate Judge Miguel Lopez, a Nogales native who practiced law for many years in New York, was appointed to the position late last year following the retirement of former Judge Emilio Velazquez. Adriana Olais, chief interpreter for the Santa Cruz County Superior Court and Nogales Magistrate Court, also plans to officially run in the Democratic primary.
Independent candidate Rachel Sedgwick previously served on the Tucson Unified School District Board of Trustees and currently coordinates STEM education in the county superintendent's office.
