← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Arizona

Endorses Lathan

The race

The University Lakes Precinct, covering the eastern half of Tempe, elects a constable this cycle. A constable is the justice court's enforcement officer — serving summonses, subpoenas, and orders of protection, and carrying out court orders including evictions and property seizures. The office carries a four-year term. This race is on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot as a vote, not a cancelled election: Arizona's cancellation statute, A.R.S. § 16-410, by its terms covers only elections held under Title 15, Title 48, or § 16-822, and Ballotpedia's general-election tables list this race on the general ballot with a single candidate. The sole general-election candidate is Karyn Lathan (Democratic), the incumbent — Ballotpedia's general-election table marks her with an (i).

Karyn Lathan (Democratic, incumbent) is running for a third term, and her record in this exact office is independently documented. Per her campaign site, she was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Arizona List's profile adds the career behind it: more than 30 years of law-enforcement experience and 20 years as a victim advocate — correctional officer, parole officer, and probation officer — and she helped launch Arizona's first restorative justice program while with the Department of Corrections. A Substack profile of her constable service describes her eviction practice directly: trained in trauma-informed care, she provides community resources to people being evicted, in her words tries to "show up more as a case manager, and then I use the badge if I have to," and founded Tempe's Family Justice Commission. She was discharged from the Air Force in 1982 for being gay, years before Don't Ask Don't Tell — her own account, printed in her profile, of the discrimination that redirected her into corrections; we print it as biography, not as a demerit. Dirt: no documented controversy, discipline, or scandal in office surfaced in this pass's searches.

OUR CALL

Our call: endorse Karyn Lathan (Democratic). The affirmative case is office-specific and verified beyond her own campaign: two elected terms in this seat, a 30-year corrections and victim-advocacy career, and a documented, distinctive service model — building Arizona's first restorative justice program and running evictions with resources and case management first, enforcement second — that outside profiles, not just her website, describe in operation. A constable's discretion is exercised at people's front doors on the worst day of their year; the record shows hers exercised with both firmness and care. In an uncontested race we endorse only on a record this substantial, and hers is.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

--- Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

← Full down-ballot enumeration