Marie Moore to take District 2, will be unopposed in Nov. 3 General Election
The Yavapai County Recorder’s Office released unofficial final results on Monday, July 27. Here is how Camp Verde’s races stood. All figures are unofficial until the results are canvassed.
Town of Camp Verde
The mayor’s seat is a two-year term
■ Gary Thompson, 1,450 votes, 57.29%
■ Vice Mayor Wendy Escoffier, 1,081 votes, 42.71%
“I’m excited to help Camp Verde move forward with becoming a citizen-first initiative and getting it back into where the government understands they work for the people, not the other way around,” Thompson said.
His first priority, he said, is unification among the council, and that he hopes to get members to move forward as a body and act in the best interest of the whole community.
“I’m here for the whole of Camp Verde,” Thompson said. “I definitely am trying to streamline things. Planning and zoning department needs to be streamlined. They’ve held hostage some businesses for up to three years getting permits. That’s ridiculous. If you want a business to open, how can you convince them to come here if it takes three years? We have contractors that refuse to do business in our town because of the length of time and aggravation involved in the permit process.”
“My own ballot hasn’t even been counted, so I know there are other ballots out there,” Escoffier said, on Thursday, July 23. “I want to thank everybody who’s called and supported me. I want to thank everybody who’s helped me gather petitions, invited me into their homes, set up meet and greets with me. I enjoyed meeting people. I enjoyed hearing what their concerns are and how council can help them.”
Escoffier was elected to council in 2022, and cited getting the Citizen Academy restarted, and the town’s capital improvement plan among the things that she is most proud of during her term.
“As vice mayor, I was proud that I was able to go around the state, meet people, and advocate for our community,” she said. “I’m sure a new council will take up that mantle and continue to do that. We have many partners across the state and in the Verde Valley, and I’m sure those partnerships will continue.”
“I wish the new council much success, and I think they’ll do fine, and I’m excited for what the future holds for me,” Escoffier said. “If I’m not selected, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my husband, my family, my grandkids and kids.”
Camp Verde Town Council is a four year term:
■ incumbent Councilwoman Patricia Seybold, 1,608 votes, 26.45%
■ Tanner Bryson, 1,577 votes, 25.94%
■ Jackie Baker, 1,451 votes, 23.87%
■ incumbent Councilwoman Robin Godwin, 1,443 votes, 23.74%
Three seats were on the ballot, so the lowest vote-getter of the four candidates does not win one, and currently incumbent Councilwoman Godwin trails Baker by 8 votes for the third. Per Arizona state law, there is an automatic recount if winning and losing candidates are separated by less than 0.5% of ballots cast.
“For the first time in several years, it seemed like the conservative vote was very recognized, and I come from a conservative platform,” Bryson said. “I hope that people are getting involved and that we can get this town headed in the right direction and follow our General Plan, which got passed, which is amazing. So I’m pretty excited about being involved over the next four years.”
An automatic recount will take place because Godwin and Baker differ by less than 0.5%, “the town will file with Superior Court 24 hours after their canvas,” Director of Yavapai County Election Laurin L. Custis wrote. “Once I get the court order, we will hold a logic and accuracy test and then begin the recount.” Results of the recount likely won’t be available until the end of the week of August 8.
Baker, Godwin and Seybold all said they are not commenting until the votes are certified.
Proposition 498:
■ “Yes,” 1,338 votes, 61.01%
■ “No,” 855 votes, 38.99%
Yavapai County District 2
Marie Moore, Camp Verde’s current mayor is the presumptive next Yavapai County District 2 supervisor with her vote tally of 4,598, 57.59% over Wiley Cline with 3,386, 42.41% for the Republican Party nomination for the seat. No Democrats are running for the nomination in the November general election, so Moore will be unopposed.
“I actually remain the mayor of Camp Verde until after the November election is canvassed, and then we’ll seat the new mayor who was elected for Camp Verde,” Moore said. “So it’s still going to be a balance between my duties as the mayor here and also just starting to really be in my new job. … I’m thankful for the trust that was put in me to do that, and I truly am looking forward to it.”
Moore said she’s already serving on several Camp Verde committees — including the technical advisory group and tourism working group, and will be joining a state-level rural fire ad hoc committee. She intends to keep attending water meetings such as Sustainable Flows and working with Friends of the Verde River.
“Water is always going to be a big issue,” Moore said. “I think it’s important for everybody to understand that the county doesn’t have authority over water, but we still need to understand it and be involved in it.”
On the campaign trail, Moore said, solar and wind farms were a hot-button issue, and voters repeatedly voiced frustration with the county’s construction permitting process.
“I’m a firm believer that the county needs to follow through with doing their comprehensive code update. The town of Camp Verde is doing the same thing,” Moore said. “I think that we have good, strong codes. It makes the process a lot easier to understand.”
The seat is open following the decision by incumbent Supervisor Dee Jenkins [R] to not seek the full-term following her appointment.
Cline did not respond to a Larson Newspapers request for comment.
