Incumbent Chris Nanos (D - left) and challenger Heather Lappin (R - right) are both running for Pima County Sheriff.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors approved a recount of the Pima County Sheriff’s race alongside the official 2024 election canvass at a special meeting on Thursday.
When vote counting wrapped up, Sheriff Chris Nanos narrowly maintained his lead over Republican Heather Lappin by 495 votes, and Daniel Jurkowitz with the Pima County Attorney’s Office told the board a recount is required by state law.
“In the canvass you just approved, the margin for the office of Pima County Sheriff was .2%, that meets the statutory requirement for an automatic recount,” he said.
The sheriff’s race was defined by controversy in its late stages when Nanos placed Lappin, a corrections’ lieutenant, on administrative leave three weeks before election day. The Board then approved a criminal investigation for that decision, voting unanimously for the Arizona Attorney general to determine whether the sheriff violated any elections laws.
Recounts rarely change election results, and it is likely Nanos will be elected for another term. A FairVote study of statewide election recounts between 2000 and 2023 found that only one out of every 2,310 recounts resulted in a reversal.
Pima County Elections officials said a two page ballot means over a million ballot cards to reprocess, and the recount would likely take two weeks. The results of the recount will be sealed and read aloud in Superior Court.
The Board also unanimously approved the 2024 election Canvass of 518,595 votes.
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