Pima Sheriff Chris Nanos has significant lead over Republican Heather Lappin

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has a healthy lead over Republican Heather Lappin in the sheriff’s race as of late Tuesday night, and will likely see another term.

A reliably Democratic county, Lappin acknowledged the race would be tough, but said she had no regrets about her campaign.

“We really left it on the table. I will feel fine walking away if I lose, knowing that we ran a really good campaign,” she said.

This year’s sheriff’s race was been defined by late-stage controversy. Most notably, Nanos placed Lappin on administrative leave from her position as a Corrections Lieutenant on Oct. 15, as well as a deputy and union leader that campaigned for her.

The continuing fallout included a deputy filing a lawsuit against the Sheriff for First Amendment violations.

In the three days after Nanos placed Lappin on leave, her campaign received about $30,000 in donations. County campaign finance filings show her campaign has raised about four times as much as Nanos. Much of Nanos’ funds have come from a $40,000 loan he gave himself.

Besides standard party opposition from Republicans, the controversy over Lappin’s suspension caused many Democrats to throw their support behind a Republican in the last few days of the race.

Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz went as far as to submit a motion to censure the sheriff for election interference.

Lappin said she hopes Nanos is willing to hear out deputy’s concerns with his leadership.

“If he gets re elected, I hope he is willing to sit down and have an open mind to all these people that have vocally opposed him and make changes. I really hope he does”

Nanos did not attend any public events on election night, but he told AZPM in a text message that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the results.