As of Monday morning, the votes from the Nov. 3 General Election were still being counted in Arizona and Maricopa County.

The local vote for U.S. President still has a razor-thin margin in favor of declared President-Elect Joe Biden – in fact, the state has been declared by multiple outlets for Biden – but the margin is just about 17,000 votes as of this writing.

Incumbent U. S. Representative David Schweikert, a Fountain Hills resident, has been re-elected to another term in Congress.

Schweikert, on the heels of a rebuke by the House Ethics Committee earlier this summer, faced one of the toughest challenges of his political career.

The count as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 7 had Schweikert receiving 215,060 (50%) votes compared to Democrat challenger Hiral Tipirneni’s 197,433 (45.8%)

Tipirneni had held a slim lead after the first tally was released on Election Night.

“I am really grateful for the support,” Schweikert told The Times. “Now it is time to get back to work.”

In the races for the Arizona Legislature for D-23, incumbent Republican Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (88,827) was an easy victor over her challenger, Democrat Seth Blattmann (61,651).

Representative John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills returns to the Arizona House (85,540) along with fellow Republican Joseph Chaplik (79,571), a first-time candidate. Democrat challenger for a House seat Eric Kurland (64,776) came up short in his second run for a House seat.

The race for Maricopa County Sheriff is closely watched in Fountain Hills with local favorite, Republican Jerry Sheridan (857,133), losing to incumbent Democrat Sheriff Paul Penzone (1,083,817). The Sheriff’s Office is the contract provider for law enforcement services to Fountain Hills.

In a statement released by his campaign Penzone said, “I am thankful to the voters of Maricopa County for giving me the honor and privilege to serve another term as sheriff. I am grateful to my supporters for believing in this campaign and for all the work they put in to get us to this moment.

“In this time of political divide, I want to stress that politics has no place in law enforcement. Whether or not you voted for me, I am the Sheriff of everyone in Maricopa County and will spend the next four years keeping you and your families safe.”

Sheridan could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Statewide, the race for U.S. President leans toward Democratic challenger Joe Biden with 1,643,664 votes, while incumbent Republican President Donald Trump has 1,626,679 votes. Arizona has 11 Electoral Votes for president.

The U.S. Senate seat on the ballot is a special election to fill the vacancy left with the passing of Senator John McCain. Former astronaut and Democrat, Mark Kelly (1,686,882), has been declared the winner over incumbent Senator Martha McSally, a Republican (1,603,716). Kelly would fill out the remainder of McCain’s unfinished term through 2022.

Proposition 208, the education tax, passed with 1,647,576 in support and 1,534,875 opposing.

Proposition 207, which would legalize recreational use of marijuana in Arizona, is apparently an idea whose time has come. The proposition received the most supporting votes of any candidate or measure on the ballot. There are 1,919,725 votes in favor to 1,282,283 opposing.

There were a couple of hyper-local items on the ballot for the area. In Fountain Hills, a proposition to approve the 10-year General Plan is approved with 10,181 votes in favor and 4,204 against.

For the Rio Verde Fire District, a bond question requesting $5 million for expansion of the fire department to a new second fire station, along with equipment and funding to construct, has passed with 1,687 yes votes and 358 no.

Maricopa County is reporting 2,059,757 ballots cast, with 1,893,897 received early and 165,860 cast on Election Day for an initial turnout number of approximately 79 percent of registered voters.

All the numbers presented in this story are preliminary with more ballots to be counted. They will remain unofficial until canvassed by the legislative body with oversight.