In early tabulation Tuesday evening, Jesse Kelly held an 8.7 percent lead over Jonathan Paton in the race for the Republican Party’s nomination in Congressional District 8, which includes much of Northwest Tucson.
Kelly had garnered 17,823 votes (48.98 percent) to Paton’s 14,653 votes (40.27 percent), a margin of 3,170 votes. Brian Miller, who withdrew his candidacy earlier in August but remained on the ballot, had received 2,937 votes (8.07 percent). When Miller pulled out, he endorsed Paton, the Republican state senator, for the nomination.
The winner faces incumbent Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in November.
Pima County Elections had tallied ballots from 88,605 voters as of 8:18 p.m. Tuesday. That represents 18.54 percent of the county’s 477,959 registered voters.
