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Tusayan says 'No' to incorporation
Decision divided by 13 votes

With 72 percent turnout, voters said "no" to incorporation of Tusayan by a 13-vote margin, according to unofficial results posted by the Coconino County Elections Office.

The final tally was 69 against and 56 for, with 126 of the community's 174 registered voters participating.

There were also 13 provisional ballots and one hand-in ballot cast. Voters use provisional ballots when they arrive at the polls without authorized identification. Those votes will either be validated or discarded within the next three days.

The opposition group, The Price is Not Right, Say No to Incorporation declared it a "win," saying they're certain that some of those provisional ballots were "no" votes.

"Tusayan has said once again that we don't want that kind of massive commercial development here," said Clarinda Vail, who led the effort opposing the measure.

Greg Bryan, who headed the pro-incorporation group, Citizens for Tusayan Incorporation Choice, said that while the outcome was a disappointment, they were encouraged by the turnout as well as by the closeness of the vote.

"It did show that 46 percent feel that it's time for a change," he said. "We hope that will spark change in the community to improve our lives."

In the contested race for the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick and Republican Syndey Hay will face off after winning their respective primaries. Kirkpatrick got nearly 52 percent of the vote in her primary with her nearest rival, Mary Kim Titla tallying about 22 percent. Hay netted nearly 34 percent of the vote in his primary with his closest challenger, Sandra Livingstone, taking about 29 percent.

Democratic turnout was more than double that for the Republican primary with 8,918 votes being cast for Democrats and 3,989 for Republicans.

James Peshlakai's daughter, Jamescita Peshlakai, narrowly lost her bid to represent the Democrats in a contest for the Board of Supervisors District 5 seat. She lost by less than 1 percent, netting 30.20 percent while Lena Fowler got 31.02 percent.


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