Marana Town Council candidate Jackie McGuire would move quickly to overhaul Marana’s data center rules, push for stronger financial safeguards on major projects, argue for diversifying the town’s tax base, and press for more resident input on big decisions.
She spoke at the Democrats of Greater Tucson meeting on July 20, 2026. McGuire spent almost 15 years as a financial advisor, and she frames that experience as central to her campaign message on taxes, debt and development. She also said she is running against wealthy, well-connected opponents.
Jackie McGuire is an entrepreneur, data scientist, former financial advisor, and mother of three. Unlike politicians who only take a stance, Jackie has a proven record of taking action. She was one of the Marana residents who led a referendum effort and collected nearly 3,000 signatures to put the controversial Data Center project on the ballot.
When the Town threw those petitions out on a technicality, Jackie was the lead plaintiff in the recent lawsuit to force accountability and fight for residents’ right to vote on important issues.
Her platform is built on issues that unite Marana’s diverse community: fighting corruption and “backroom dealing,” investing in local small businesses for responsible economic growth, increasing access to education and training programs, and protecting individual liberty.
Learn more about Jackie at https://www.voteforjackie.com/
Also read: McGuire Warns Marana Is Betting Its Water, Power and Future on an AI ‘House of Cards’
She is committed to ensuring resident voices are heard, establishing citizen committees to tap into local expertise, fixing Marana’s roads and infrastructure, and securing Marana’s future by keeping predatory development out.
Rewrite data center ordinance.
If elected, McGuire said she would begin by rewriting Marana’s data center ordinance, calling the current version “completely ineffective” and saying it “creates more loopholes than it closes.” She said the town should require fire-response plans, completion or decommissioning bonds and clearer emergency standards for generators if large industrial projects move ahead.
“I think that there are a handful of things that need to happen immediately,” McGuire said. “So immediately, the data center ordinance needs to be overhauled,” she said, adding that a multibillion-dollar project should never be allowed “without requiring completion or decommissioning bonds.”
Money and growth
McGuire also said Marana needs to rethink its finances. She argues the town should diversify its tax base and consider establishing a property tax, saying the town’s no-property-tax stance may be costing residents more in the long run than it saves them.
“That property tax would probably equate to about $12 a month for most residents,” she said, while arguing that a stronger bond rating and lower borrowing costs could offset that expense. She said town leaders should present residents with plain-language cost estimates before making major financial decisions.
Public votes on big projects
For larger developments, McGuire wants automatic public votes on the biggest proposals. She said she would like to see projects above certain cost thresholds sent to the ballot so “seven people should not be deciding for 65,000 people on massive projects.”
She also said Marana has failed to build what residents actually want, describing some subdivision parks as little more than “a patch of grass with some lame playground equipment in it.” In her view, the town has spent too much time “appeasing developers” instead of listening to neighborhoods.
“I tell my kids all the time that the two best things you can ever do with your money are give it away to people who need it more than you do or use it to right the world,” McGuire said. “And I think I’m doing the latter right now.”
The election takes place on July 21, 2026.
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