A major shakeup has come to Benson as half of the city’s council lost their seats in a Tuesday recall election.
According to unofficial results posted by the Cochise County Elections Department, Derrick Fenn, Ross Kaplowitch and Mark Boyle defeated incumbent council members Patrick Boyle, Darren Hayes and Levi Johnson. The results have not yet been certified by the city council.
Fenn won 730 votes to Patrick Boyle’s 431. Kaplowitch beat Hayes 659 to 494. And Johnson, Benson’s vice mayor, received 505 votes to Mark Boyle’s 629.
Mark Boyle, the brother of Patrick Boyle, is the owner of a Sierra Vista flooring company. Fenn owns the Benson Feed & Supply animal feed store. Kaplowitch, who recently moved to Benson, is a trucking company owner and former corrections officer who unsuccessfully ran for the Tucson City Council in 2023.
In December, a successful recall petition put Hayes, Patrick Boyle, Johnson and council member Nick Maldonado on the ballot. Maldonado did not attract a challenger before a February deadline and ran unopposed on Tuesday.
The recall effort was part of a simmering backlash to an aluminum plant under construction by Aluminum Dynamics, Inc. in the city of 5,355 in western Cochise County. Opponents of the plant have sued the city and caught the attention of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. The controversy has seen former Deputy City Manager Jay Howe resign after revelations that he used a fake Facebook account to coordinate messaging with an ADI representative.
Much of the controversy has played out on local Facebook groups, something not lost on one voter.
“No matter who you are, you probably shouldn’t be on Facebook in private groups and all that, under fake names, starting stuff,” said 24-year-old Robert Swanda.
Swanda was turned away at a polling station Tuesday after learning he wasn’t registered to vote in the recall, though he said he’s voted in other elections since moving to Benson.
“I get the ‘No aluminum plant’ [movement]. I haven’t looked into it, but I know it’s going to bring a lot of money, a lot of jobs, and as a younger person, I think that’s what this town needs. But I haven’t lived here for 60 years, so who cares what I think,” he said.
Opponents of the aluminum plant, which has received a zoning permit from the City of Benson as well as state air quality permits, have raised concerns over its potential effects on the San Pedro River, its proximity to a nursing home and the relative lack of public awareness while decisions were being made. The plant’s zoning permit was approved in November 2024, well before community opposition ramped up.
Mark Boyle, Kaplowitch and Fenn have all argued Benson needs to take public concerns about industrial development more seriously. On Tuesday, Boyle said the three candidates have developed their own niches while campaigning: planning and zoning issues for him, law enforcement and firefighting for Kaplowitch and financial issues for Fenn.
Speaking before results were announced, Boyle said voters were concerned about lacking transparency from the city government.
“Whether it was another McDonald’s or an aluminum plant, it was just the fact they kept it secret from everybody,” he said.
Signs pitching Boyle, Kaplowitch and Fenn as a “Benson First” ticket have become common across town. Boyle said the trio held meet and greets, including one outside the local Safeway supermarket.
“They feel like they’re not being listened to,” he said of residents.
Boyle said the recall election sparked civic activity, including a well-attended candidate forum with incumbents and challengers hosted by radio station Coolfmlive.
“They never did that in this town, or most towns,” he said.
Boyle said relations between incumbents and challengers remained civil despite their differences, and that he doesn’t believe national partisan politics influenced the local races.
“I think politics should be contentious. I mean, you know, the Founding Fathers weren’t always the best of friends. But they would argue these points that were important to them. And then, eventually, they would come to something that made sense,” he said.
About 30.6% of registered voters in Benson cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, according to the Cochise County Elections Department. Benson's mayoralty and three of its council seats, including the one Boyle just won, are on the ballot again on July 21.
