Who is running against incumbent Tucson Mayor Regina Romero in the November election?

In the upcoming election on Nov. 7, Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat who has been in office for one term, faces three opponents: independent Ed Ackerley, Republican Janet Wittenbraker and Libertarian Arthur Kerschen.

Tucson has a council-manager form of government. Policies are set by the mayor and city council and carried out by an appointed city manager and other city staff.

Who is independent candidate Ed Ackerley?

Ackerley is an advertising executive who is running against Romero for a second time. In 2019, Ackerly received 39% of the vote compared to Romero’s 55%.

Ackerly was born in Tucson and received master’s and doctorate degrees in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University. In addition to working at his family’s advertising business, he also teaches marketing, advertising and leadership at the University of Arizona and NAU.

Ackerley said he is running to improve police recruitment and retention, the condition of parks and the city’s overall safety. Tucson “is not safe as it once was," he said. Ackerley said the city is lacking about 200 officers.

Unlike Romero, who has pushed to help Tucson adopt policies related to climate change, Ackerley said the city should not prioritize climate issues.

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Ackerley’s platform prioritizes police and roads

Ackerley’s platform includes the deployment of 1,000 police officers, paving all major roads by 2025, and the creation of teams to respond immediately to urgent road condition concerns.

Currently, Tucson has a website for residents to flag concerns about urgent street maintenance.

Ackerley also wants to establish homeless transition centers in abandoned buildings, as well as use "strike teams" to clear homeless encampments and relocate their residents, according to his campaign website. He wants to have Tucson's parks cleaned and patrolled and fund an advertising campaign to attract tourists and future residents.

Ackerley said he disagrees with critics who say that as an independent, he does not have a chance at winning.

“I think there is an appetite for trying something not very far to the left, not very far the right, but right down the middle,” he said. “Pragmatic solutions for Tucson’s problems that need strong leadership. I’ve timed it just right. The state and the city are ready for a different direction.”

Who is Republican candidate Janet Wittenbraker?

Wittenbraker has lived in Tucson since 1993 and works as a contract administrator. She said she decided to run after she had an altercation with a man at a park who she said was on a substance.

“Tucson is a very unsafe city to live in, and it is unsafe for our visitors as well. It’s gotten so bad that it is visible to people who are commuting from the airport to resorts in this town,” Wittenbraker said. She said the city government is failing in three areas that are fundamental responsibilities of local government: public safety, transportation and parks and recreation.

Wittenbraker said Tucson has unfriendly business policies and issues with permitting delays that contribute to a housing shortage.

She also said she does not support Tucson’s Housing First model, which is an approach to end homelessness that centers on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing them with additional services.

“Housing first is … housing without accountability designed by putting the homeless in shelters without first requiring they put down their drugs or seek mental health care,” Wittenbraker said.

She criticized Tucson's allowance of panhandling and claimed it is not doing enough to arrest people who use drugs in public places.

Wittenbraker's platform prioritizes roads over public transportation

According to Wittenbraker’s website, she wants to have the public safety budget increased, divest city taxes from public transportation and use them for public safety, and align city elections with the national and state election cycle.

She also wants to improve city parks, focus on water conservation and fund the city’s transportation department to rebuild Tucson’s roads, among other goals.

“As an elected mayor who will be responsible for the city budget, we have to make sure the budget goes to the core services in the city charter,” she said. “The incumbent is falling down in those areas.”

Who is Libertarian candidate Arthur Kerschen?

Kerschen works as a laboratory specialist at Pima Community College and has been a member of the Pima County Election Integrity Commission, a commission set up by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to provide independent oversight of the county election process.

Kerschen hails from Snowflake and came to Tucson for college at the University of Arizona.

He decided to run for mayor to give Tucsonans the option to vote for the "abolition of most current city government spending and a rededication of city resources to law enforcement," he wrote in an email to The Arizona Republic.

According to Kerschen, he believes in minimal government because “any government program can be corrupted, so government itself must be minimized" and properly vetted to minimize opportunities for corruption.

On candidate paperwork, Kerschen listed his candidate website as the Free Market Monument Foundation website. The foundation is dedicated to promoting free market principles, and Kerschen is one of two founders.

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What supporters say about Kerschen

Pendleton Spicer, secretary of the Libertarian Party of Pima County, said the party supports Kerschen because he stands behind the principle of minimal government.

Kerschen “believes that, with the exception of law enforcement, the city government should play a minimal role in governing the affairs of the citizens of Tucson in all spheres including commerce, health, and property rights,” Spicer wrote in an email to The Republic.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is running against incumbent Tucson Mayor Regina Romero?