Early results show Tucson voters rejecting Proposition 421, with 54.9% voting no and 45.1% voting yes.

The no vote led by 12,181 votes, 68,080 to 55,899. The measure would have renewed Tucson Electric Power’s 25-year franchise, which gives the utility access to city rights-of-way. The current franchise expires in April 2027 and includes a 2.25% fee on customer bills.

The measure would also have put into effect an energy collaboration agreement, with TEP providing $2 million a year for infrastructure and sustainability projects, rising 2% annually, or about $64 million over 25 years.

Opponents who protested outside TEP’s downtown office said a no vote would keep the city from committing to TEP for 25 years and open the door to public power.

“Community power beat corporate power in the Sonoran Desert," the group Public Power for Tucson said in a statement. "Despite TEP’s attempt to try to scare voters with over $4 million of propaganda, Tucsonans voted for a brighter future."

The group said Proposition 421 was about more than TEP’s infrastructure, calling it a referendum on how the utility operates in Tucson and saying voters rejected it.

"It’s time for the Tucson Mayor and Council to put a public power utility before voters,” the group said.

TEP said the proposition would not raise customer rates and that rates would not fall if it failed. Any increase would come from a separate rate case before the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Tucson voters also weighed a second city measure Tuesday and approved Proposition 422, extending the 0.1% Reid Park Zoo sales tax through 2047, 71.9% to 28.1%.

Voters first approved the tax in 2017, and it was set to expire at the end of 2027. All of the revenue would go into a Reid Park Zoo improvement fund for uses set by the mayor and City Council. The zoo’s supporters said the tax paid for 85% of large capital project costs under the zoo’s 2018 master plan, and the zoo had more than 610,000 visitors from 2025 to 2026. No organized opposition emerged.

Pima County’s Proposition 425, which would raise the county spending limit by about $610 million, was too close to call. Yes had 50.2% and no had 49.8%, 151,744 votes to 150,571, a difference of 1,173 votes. The limit is set in the Arizona Constitution, and the county has said it expects to reach the cap in two to three years.

Supervisor Rex Scott said the measure would not directly raise taxes or increase spending, while opponent Jay Tolkoff argued the spending would eventually come from higher property taxes. If it fails, Scott said, the county would have to consider debt financing or cuts to programs and services.

These are early results. Results are unofficial until counties canvass, which must happen by Nov. 19.

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