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A Pima County Superior Court judge has dismissed the remaining defendants in a suit filed by former Councilwoman Kathleen Dunbar over a last-minute campaign mailer in her failed re-election bid last year.

Dunbar filed the suit in November against now-Councilwoman Karin Uhlich, three retired teachers, their husbands, the Democratic Party of Pima County, the lawyer for the Amphitheater Public Schools district and his wife over a campaign mailer that contended she threatened to kill a housing project because of her "long-standing opposition" to development impact fees.

The mailer said a developer and the Amphi school district had a voluntary impact-fee agreement that would have provided the district with $250,000. The three retired teachers signed the mailer, which said Dunbar tried to kill the agreement.

Dunbar contended the mailer contained defamatory statements that had caused her "severe mental and physical anguish."

This week, Judge Michael Alfred dismissed the suit against Uhlich, the Democratic Party of Pima County and the three teachers and their husbands. Amphi attorney Todd Jaeger, his wife and the school district were dismissed as defendants in August.

Alfred said the mailer was protected political speech and could not be the basis for a defamation action. The suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

Dunbar could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Uhlich said she was pleased with the decision and hopes the lawsuit didn't send a signal to people not to run for public office because they might face a lawsuit as well as the rigors of a campaign.

Starr Sanders, one of the retired teachers, said she was happy the suit is over because no one likes being named in a lawsuit. Sanders said the teachers were simply telling the truth, and it was upsetting they were sued because of that.

Retired teacher Jo Quintenz said she was "gratified to know that the system does work.

"It was about as good as we could have hoped for," she added.

The attorney for the Jaegers and the Amphi school district already has filed a motion seeking $21,000 in attorney's fees for his portion of the case from Dunbar. Bill Risner, the attorney who has been working pro-bono for the remaining defendants, said he would file to recover his fees as well.