Morales leading Murphy as Hundal wins third seat

Murphy’s campaign omits name of $1,000 contributor in pre-election finance report

Sahuarita Town Council incumbents Deborah Morales and Mayor Tom Murphy have won reelection to the seven-member council.

Morales is leading in the five-way race with three council seats contested. Morales has 47-vote lead over Murphy with nearly all the votes counted from the July 21 primary election.

Chelsea Hundal is in third place and will win the open seat vacated by Vice Mayor Kara Egbert, who did not seek reelection.

All three secured enough votes to avoid a runoff in the Nov. 3 general election. The new council will be sworn into office at the Nov. 9 council meeting, according to the town’s general code.

Sahaurita’s mayor and vice-mayor are selected by the council. Town code requires the council to select the mayor and vice-mayor at the second council meeting following the general election, which is scheduled for Dec. 14, according to the town’s 2026 council meeting schedule.

Morales, who was appointed to the council in 2020 and reelected in 2022, leads with 3,874 votes, according to the Pima County Elections Department results posted on July 24.

Murphy, who was elected to the council in 2013 and appointed mayor in 2016, has 3,827 votes. Hundal, running in her first town council election, is in third with 3,381 votes.

Murphy campaign omits donor name

Murphy was the only candidate to meet the minimum threshold of raising and spending at least $500 necessary to file campaign finance reports. Murphy raised $5,000 for the primary election, according to his July 15 pre-election campaign finance report filed with the town.

Murphy’s campaign reported a $2,000 contribution from Cox AZ Political Action Committee received on June 22. Murphy’s campaign reported that Murphy personally loaned the campaign $2,000 on June 9.

Murphy’s campaign also reported a $1,000 contribution received on July 2, but did not disclose the name of the donor. The report, however, did include the donor’s address of 2840 N. Country Club Road in Tucson. This address matches the address for the Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association, although there are other businesses at this address.

Murphy’s campaign also incorrectly listed the committee number for Cox AZ PAC. The campaign stated the committee number is 201200267. The correct number according to the Arizona Secretary of State which registers political action committees is 201200367.

Murphy’s campaign paid Allegra Marketing in Tucson $1,704 for campaign signs. The campaign is required to filed a post-election campaign finance report by Aug. 5.