With all but three precincts reporting, Arizona election results are continuing to shake out with two main races still up in the air. But at least one of the closest fought races of Election Day is being called.
Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick has reportedly defeated Republican Jonathan Paton for CD 1 with about 49 percent of the vote to Paton's 45 percent, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's office. The battle between Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Vernon Parker for CD 9, however, is still not certain. But Sinema has widened her lead of about 1,500 votes to 2,000.
The race between Democrat Ron Barber and Republican Martha McSally for Gabrielle Giffords' former seat in Congress is also still too close to call.
See also: - Election 2012: Complete Coverage - Election Day 2012: Phoenix Residents Go to the Polls (Slideshow)
President Barack Obama lost Arizona by a wide margin of about 12 percentage points but won re-election to a second term with 303 electoral college votes, or 50 percent of the popular vote to Romney's 48 percent. Romney conceded the race last night at about 11 p.m.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio beat back challenger Paul Penzone for a 6th term at the helm of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Jeff Flake defeated Richard Carmona for U.S. Senate with about 50 percent of the vote to Carmona's 45 percent. Carmona, Surgeon General under former President George W. Bush, had been boosted by Bill Clinton at a recent rally in Tempe, but couldn't overcome Flake for former Senator Jon Kyl's vacated seat. Kyl and Senator John McCain both endorsed Flake who ran incessant television ads against Carmona.
In what was essentially Arpaio's victory speech, he was already looking forward to 2016 saying he would serve for "another eight years." Proposition 121, the "Top-two primary election" ballot measure also failed to pass. Here are the latest updates from the Arizona Secretary of State's office.
Percent of Precincts Reporting: 99%
Turnout: 53%
Maricopa County Sheriff
ARPAIO, JOE (R) -- 52.7% -- 465,249 votes PENZONE, PAUL (D) -- 42.8% -- 378,153 STAUFFER, MIKE (I) -- 4.4% -- 38,725 Write-In Candidate -- 0.1% -- 573
Congress District 9
SINEMA, KYRSTEN (DEM) -- 47.4% -- 76,967 votes PARKER, VERNON B. (REP) -- 46% -- 74,866 GAMMILL, POWELL (LBT) -- 6.3% -- 10,293 Write-in -- 0.13% -- 203
U.S. Senator
FLAKE, JEFF (REP) -- 50.4% -- 809,479 votes CARMONA, RICHARD (DEM) -- 45.2% -- 726,784 VICTOR, MARC (LBT) -- 4.4% -- 69,874 Write-in -- 0.1% -- 1,594
Congress: District 1
KIRKPATRICK, ANN (DEM) -- 48.8% -- 101,452 votes PATON, JONATHAN (REP) -- 45.3% -- 94,098 ALLEN, KIM (LBT) -- 5.9% -- 12,189 Write-in -- 0.1% -- 200
Congress: District 2
MCSALLY, MARTHA (REP) -- 50.2% -- 110,868 votes BARBER, RON (DEM) -- 49.6% -- 109,556 WRITE-IN -- 0.2% -- 388
Pinal County Sheriff:
BABEU, PAUL (R) -- 53.4% -- 32,362 votes TAYLOR, KEVIN (D) -- 33.8% -- 21,011 MORGAN, TY (I) -- 12% -- 7,350
U.S. President
ROMNEY (REP) -- 55% -- 902,831 votes OBAMA (DEM) -- 43% -- 713,858 JOHNSON (LBT) -- 1.3% -- 20,751 STEIN (GRN) -- 0.3% -- 5,086 Write-in -- 0.3% -- 5,069
Proposition 114:
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of protecting crime victims from having to pay damages to a person who was injured while that person committed or attempted to commit a felony against the victim.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to liability for damages.
YES -- 80% -- 1,193,080 NO -- 20.1% -- 300,777
Proposition 115
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of (1) increasing the terms of Arizona Supreme Court justices, Appellate and Superior Court judges to eight years; (2) raising the retirement age for justices and judges from seventy to seventy-five; (3) changing membership of commissions on appellate and trial court appointments and procedures for appointing justices and judges; (4) requiring the Supreme, Appellate, and Superior courts to publish decisions online, (5) requiring the Supreme Court to send a copy of the judicial performance review of each justice and judge who is up for retention to the Legislature, and (6) allowing a joint legislative committee to meet and take testimony on justices and judges up for retention.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to the courts.
YES -- 27.3% -- 392,427 NO -- 72.7% -- 1,045,685
Proposition 116:
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of setting the amount exempt from annual taxes on business equipment and machinery purchased after 2012 to an amount equal to the combined earnings of 50 Arizona workers.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to annual taxes on business equipment and machinery.
YES -- 43.5% -- 607,968 votes NO -- 56.5% -- 789,948
Proposition 117
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of setting a limit on the annual percentage increase in property values used to determine property taxes to no more than 5% above the previous year, and establishes a single limited property value as the basis for determining all property taxes on real property, beginning in 2014.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to calculating property values and taxes.
YES -- 57% -- 820,917 votes NO -- 43% -- 618,716
Proposition 118
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of changing the distribution formula for the State Land Trust Permanent Endowment Fund, which funds various public institutions, including schools, to be 2.5% of the average monthly market values of the Fund for the immediately preceding five calendar years. The change would affect fiscal years 2013 through 2021.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to the distribution formula of the State Land Trust Permanent Endowment Fund.
YES -- 49.8% -- 674,960 votes NO -- 50.2% -- 681,367
Proposition 119
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of authorizing the exchange of state trust lands if the exchange is related to either protecting military facilities or improving the management of state trust lands and prescribes the process for such exchanges. This process includes two independent appraisals and analyses, public hearings, and approval by public vote.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to state trust lands.
YES -- 61.8% -- 857,952 votes NO -- 38.2% -- 531,125
Proposition 120
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of repealing Arizona's disclaimer of all right and title to federal public lands within the state and declaring Arizona's sovereignty over public lands and all natural resources within its boundaries. This excludes Indian reservations, lands of the United States, and lands over which jurisdiction has been ceded by the state of Arizona.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping current constitutional law related to public lands and natural resources within Arizona's boundaries.
YES -- 32.5% -- 452,024 votes NO -- 67.5% -- 939,871
Proposition 121
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of replacing the current party primary election with a "top-two" primary election in which all voters, regardless of party affiliation, vote in a single, combined primary, and the top two vote-getters for each seat advance to the general election ballot. This "top-two" primary will not apply to the election of the U.S. President or to elections in which no party affiliation appears on the ballot.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of keeping the current party primary election in which each recognized political party selects a candidate to appear on the general election ballot.
YES 32.8% -- 472,654 votes NO -- 67.2% -- 967,302
Proposition 204
A "yes" vote shall have the effect of permanently increasing the state sales tax by one cent per dollar, effective June 1, 2013, for the purpose of funding educational programs, public transportation infrastructure projects, and human services. It forbids reductions to current K-12 and university funding levels and forbids reductions to the current state sales tax base.
A "no" vote shall have the effect of not increasing the state sales tax by one cent per one dollar, beginning June 1, 2013.
YES -- 35.1% -- 533,620 votes NO -- 65% -- 987,517
See the complete results at the Secretary of State's office.
