Lozano leads the Yuma County judge race that drew $90,000 in outside money

Jorge Lozano leads John LeSueur for Yuma County Superior Court, Division 5.

As of the County's last election-night update, Lozano had 12,838 votes, or 52.64 percent. LeSueur had 11,417, or 46.82 percent. That's a gap of 1,421.

It's not called. The County still had 20,197 ballots pending countywide. But it's a wider lead than most local races on this ballot.

The seat

Division 5 opens with Judge Roger Nelson's retirement. It was the only contested Superior Court race on the Yuma County ballot this year. Lozano won the Democratic primary in July. LeSueur won the Republican primary.

Lozano served eight years as a Yuma County justice of the peace. He has also sat as a judge pro tem in Superior Court under Arizona Supreme Court orders. LeSueur is a lawyer and former policy adviser to a state utility regulator.

This is a different seat from the one Judge Mark Reeves is leaving. That's a separate process.

The money

You've heard about this part. A national group called the State and Local Election Alliance spent heavily in this race, backing Lozano and opposing LeSueur with digital ads and mailers.

KYMA reported filings of $50,000 for digital ads and more than $37,000 for mailers. The group's executive director, Geneva Fuentes, told the Yuma Sun it had spent more than $90,000, about its whole Yuma County budget for the cycle.

LeSueur called outside money in a local judge race "unusual" and "unprecedented." Lozano said he'd had no contact with the group and learned about its involvement from the mailers and ads.

Independent spending is legal if it's reported and not coordinated with a campaign. Nothing public shows coordination or any rule violation.

Did the money matter? I don't know, and neither does anybody else. A 1,421-vote lead and a $90,000 campaign are both facts. Connecting them would be a guess.

What's next

• The County keeps counting. We'll update when it posts.
• The Board of Supervisors canvasses by Nov. 19.

If either candidate wants to weigh in, I'll print it.

More 2026 election coverage is in the Yuma Informed Election Center.

Where this comes from

• Yuma County, unofficial election results, upload of about 1:31 a.m. Nov. 4. Official, unofficial results.
• Yuma Informed, "A national group has spent about $90,000 on a Yuma County judge race", Oct. 30, 2026. Our earlier reporting, which cites:
• KYMA, "Yuma judicial race gains attention", Oct. 22, 2026. Reporting. Filing amounts.
• Yuma Sun, "National PAC spending draws attention in Yuma judicial race", October 2026. Reporting. Fuentes' total and both candidates' statements.