Pima County Treasurer Brian Johnson (D) resigned on June 15, 2026 due to allegations of sexual harassment in that office. Chief Deputy Treasurer Jake Martin is serving as Interim Director. Martin ran for District 1 Pima County Supervisor in the July 2024 Dem primary against Supervisor Rex Scott (D).
Nine persons applied to be appointed by the Pima County Bd of Supervisors and the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson held a forum on July 7 with 8 applicants participating. Interim Treasurer Martin applied as did former candidates for Treasurer Brian Bickel (2016, 2020) and Sami Hamed (2024). Others who applied were Dan Dempsey, Derrick Espadas (tried to run for AZ Corporation Commission this year), Jim Hannley (ex husband to Pam Powers, former AZ House Rep.), Derika Louk, Jorge Soto, Don Womack (did not participate in forum).
The Pima County Bd. of Supervisors met on July 15 to consider this vacancy, but unanimously delayed the appt. to July 28 upon advice of their County attorney. Today they appointed Jorge Soto to the Treasurer position, to the end of December 2028. (Johnson had been elected in Nov. 2024 to a four year position, so his replacement will serve to the end of that term.)
Supervisor Rex Scott made the motion to appoint Jorge Soto, 2nd by Supervisor Andres Cano. Vote was 4-0-1 with Republican Supervisor Steve Christy abstaining. According to Tucson Sentinel, Soto has “17 years as an operations and supplier manager for Citigroup and now works as a consultant for OC Events and Catering.”
Prior to this motion, Supervisor Cano nominated Daniel Dempsey, but that motion failed for lack of a 2nd. Dempsey is a “former licensed energy and real estate investment analyst.”
Good luck to Jorge Soto this appointment. This position will be up for election in Nov. 2028, along with other Pima County offices.
Photo not avialble of Jorge Soto. View Soto’s remarks on the LWVGT forum in the link above. Soto said in the forum that his campaign sign would say “positive influence and positive leadership.” He also said that if he is selected for this position he would serve with “integrity, transparency, accountability, and humility”. Good luck to him.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.