On April 23, the Pima County Board of Supervisors chose Nicholas Fontana to fill a vacant seat in the Arizona State House of Representatives. When legislative vacancies occur in Arizona, there is no special election. Instead, the county government chooses a replacement. The county must select from a list submitted to the county. When the legislator being replaced is a Democrat, the Democratic Party submits the list of possible replacements, and of course when the legislator being replaced is a Republican, the Republican Party has the same ability.

In this case, the legislator who resigned had switched his registration to “independent” before he resigned, so the county improvised by appointing a committee to submit a list of independents. Fontana is an attorney who has been registered as an independent for a lengthy period of time.