Two weeks after Election Day and Arizona officials continue to count ballots in Maricopa County, The Arizona Republic reported on Tuesday. However, two races have finished tabulating the ballots, resulting in a win for Democrats Rep. Eric Meyer and Stephanie Mach.
In east Phoenix/Paradise Valley district, Meyer had led Rep. Amanda Reeve (R-Phoenix) since Election Night, the Republic reported. Meyer's lead grew as early and provisional ballots were counted, leading to another Democratic win in the 28th District.
In Pima County, Democratic challenger Stephanie Mach defeated incumbent GOP Rep. Ted Vogt by 3,085 votes, the Republic reported. Although the county only finished counting votes on Monday, Vogt conceded the election to Mach last week.
Maricopa County has yet to finish counting both provisional and early ballots, it was reported. According to the Republic, election officials in Maricopa County, where controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking re-election against Democrat Paul Penzone, 34,000 provisional ballots and 450 early ballots have yet to be counted.
On Monday, the Phoenix New Times reported that Arpaio led with 50.74 percent of the votes. With a 6.09 percentage-point lead over Penzone, this year's election shows the smallest lead Arpaio has held in recent elections, the newspaper reported.
With the final legislative results in, the state's House of Representatives will be split 36 Republicans and 24 Democrats at the start of the January 2013 legislative session. Previously, the House was divided 40 Republicans and 20 Democrats, marking a slight gain for Democrats.
Democrats also made strides in the Senate, where the split is 17 Republicans and 13 Democrats compared to the previous 21 to 9 split.
The Arizona Republic also called Prop. 118, which guarantees a continuous annual return on the endowment fund. The newspaper stated that although votes are still being counted, "20,154 more 'yes' ballots for Prop. 118 than 'no' ballots as of late Monday afternoon."
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