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Pinal County has been run by a three-person Board of Supervisors since 1911.

In that time, only Democrats have held those three positions.

But with two long-standing incumbents stepping down in the fall, Pinal County Republicans feel their time has come to wrest control of the board.

"This is our best chance to date," said Tommy Tucker, chairman of the Pinal County Republican Party.

Of the 11 candidates running for the three seats, five are Republicans. Three of those are vying for District 2, which includes Apache Junction, Florence, part of Queen Creek, and several heavily populated unincorporated areas that are considered part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

That seat has been held for the past 14 years by Sandie Smith, who like District 1 Supervisor Lionel Ruiz is retiring. Ruiz is stepping down after 16 years on the board.

Of the three spots, District 2 appears most likely to go to a Republican. That area is where nearly half of Pinal's 45,974 (as of Friday) registered Republicans live. It is also home to nearly half the county's 133,654 registered voters.

"This is the election that we're going to start setting a precedent of Republicans in office," said Todd House, who lost to Smith in 2004 and is up against Bryan Martyn and Danielle Tomerlin in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for District 2.

"There will be no more of that good ol' boy network that's been in place for so long. There will now be a watchdog in there."

Many Republicans in Pinal County are linking Democratic candidates to the scandal involving former Pinal County Manager Stanley Griffis, who is serving 3 1/2 years in prison for stealing more than $400,000 in county transportation funds, Democrats say.

"They're trying to make a big deal of that," said Pete Rios, a state representative for Pinal-heavy District 23 who is leaving the Legislature to run for the District 1 supervisor seat.

"They're trying to wrap him around some other incumbents' necks, too, like the sheriff."

District 1 is Pinal County's largest district, yet its least populated. It includes the towns of Eloy and Mammoth, and unincorporated areas such as Oracle, Red Rock, SaddleBrooke and San Manuel.

All of those areas are poised for rapid growth similar to what other parts of the county already have experienced, Rios said.

"It may be a little bit slower here, but it's coming," Rios said, noting planned large-scale residential communities in Mammoth and San Manuel, and a proposal by the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe to build a casino along state Highway 77 north of Mammoth. "We need to be prepared."

Rios said party affiliation should not matter to voters who are most concerned with the best interests of the county, an opinion shared by nearly every Democrat running for county supervisor.

"I am optimistic and hopeful that, regardless of who sits on the county Board of Supervisors, that will be the county touchstone," said David Snider, who is seeking his second term overseeing District 3, which includes Casa Grande and fast-growing Maricopa.

"Partisan politics should not affect things."