Tucson Mayor Regina Romero launched her re-election campaign this week in conjunction with Wednesday’s International Women’s Day celebrations, bragging about the work she’s done for the city’s homeless, small businesses and families.

Romero faces challengers in the August 1 Democratic primary, and two independents, a Republican and a libertarian, are on the ballot in the November 7 general election.

Elected in 2019, Romero credits his past four years in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, building affordable housing, and working with Pima County to tackle the homeless problem in the metropolitan area. advertised. She promised to increase police investment to reduce her crimes and promote small businesses if re-elected.

The mayor and former West Side Alderman hosted a campaign event on International Women’s Day and was elected to support her, including Pima County Superintendent Adelita Grijalva and Pima County Attorney Laura Conover. I even mentioned the names of other female employees. The event was held at the Bicount Suites in Midtown Tucson. Also in attendance was former state Rep. Reginald Boulding, leader of the Democratic Party for the House of Representatives, who ran for Arizona’s secretary of state but lost in last year’s primary.

Francis Saitta, a former candidate who won a seat on the Tucson Unified School District Board of Governors in 2014, could be a Democratic challenger.

A pair of independent candidates are challenging Romero from the right. Former Republican Zach Jenzer announced his bid to become mayor of Tucson in January, avoiding the Republican label for his campaign. Business owner Ed Ackerley wants a rematch.

To participate in the ballot, a candidate registered with a political party must collect signatures from approximately 5-10% of the city’s registered voters who voted for that party in the previous mayoral election. An independent candidate needs about 3,000 signatures, a slightly larger burden than the about 2,500 Democratic candidates need to reach her 5% minimum threshold. The law sets independent signature eligibility based on her 3% of the total number of registered voters who are not members of the recognized political parties: Democrats, Republicans and Liberals.

Nearly 100,000 votes were cast in the 2019 Tucson mayoral election, with Romero winning about 56% of the vote. Ackerley lost with about 39% of the vote.

Tucson is Democratic, with 97,000 city voters unregistered to any party, 60,000 Republicans, and 2,400 registered Libertarians, compared to 129,000 city voters who are party members. Registered. All six of his members of the city council are Democrats like Romero, but Tucson has elected three Republican mayors since his 1961, and for 34 of those years, a Republican mayor has held the mayoral gavel. Was swinging around, but the Democrat was his 28th year.

In a speech Wednesday, Romero said he backed his job as mayor, preparing for climate change, investing in infrastructure, improving roads and housing, hiring more police and taking care of the city’s homeless. rice field. .

“I delivered,” she said. “I am so happy and proud to be your mayor. I love being your mayor, I love my job, and I have so much to offer,” she told her support group. told to

Romero considers her efforts to protect the city’s water, focus on equity, increase police investment and improve its roads to be among her best accomplishments as mayor. I was.

She highlighted that Tucson has hired its first CEO and board of directors for its housing priority and community safety, health and wellness programs. These are all new positions created during her tenure to make city policies fairer.

She also boasted that the city plans to hire 100 more police officers, raise their salaries by 20% and protect their pensions.

“We must continue to invest in the police so they can keep us safe,” she said.

She also has, in one of her successes as mayor, winning nearly 70% of the vote to pass Proposition 411 in May, which renewed the half-cent excise tax to continue renovations on residential roads. included.

Romero’s “vision for the next four years is to continue to build a safe, equitable, sustainable and thriving desert city,” she said.

Her first commitment was to continue working in Pima County and find a way to resolve complaints from business owners about homelessness, vandalism and drug use on property. She also wants to work with Governor Katie Hobbs, whom she called “the governor who will keep an eye on the city of Tucson,” to resolve the issue.

“I understand my neighborhood and I understand businesses that are concerned about the problem of unprotected homelessness,” she said. We have to invest in the problem.”

She also called for continued support for the Youth Employment and Crime Prevention and Interventions program to “give young people hope and opportunity for the future.”

Her other priorities if reelected are securing water for Tucson’s future, updating the city’s employment and economic development plans, improving roads, building infrastructure, and the newly passed Climate Action Plan. is the implementation of

Romero was first elected as the first Latina on the Tucson City Council in 2007 and represented the First Ward, a predominantly Latino neighborhood in the west, before becoming Tucson’s first Latina mayor in 2019.

Just months into her term, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed lockdowns and severe restrictions. In her introduction to the mayor, former Tucson 3rd Alderman Karin Urich said more about Romero’s success in weathering the pandemic than Romero himself did. However, Romero praised the city for using nearly $10 million in federal COVID relief to create accessible housing in Tucson. .

Born in the town of Somerton, just south of Yuma, the mayor attended high school before graduating from the University of Arizona and later graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her husband, Ruben Reyes, has been a high-ranking member of Congressman Raul Grijalva for the past 20 years and has a close relationship with one of Southern Arizona’s most established Democrats.

The upcoming city elections will also include contests for seats representing Districts 1, 2 and 4. The city council recently approved new district boundaries to add thousands of Latino voters to District 1 Rep. Lane Santa Cruz’s district. She is running without voting.

On May 16, Tucson voters will be asked in a special election to decide whether to increase monthly electricity bills for Tucson Power customers by 0.75% as part of a new 25-year franchise agreement.