Sharon Bronson is the incumbent.

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When Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson first ran for office in 1996, business interests and developers put their money toward defeating her.

Bronson said her views have changed little in the last 12 years, and she continues to be a strong advocate of growth paying for itself.

She points to her role in developing the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which protects environmentally sensitive areas from development; and the Southwest Infrastructure Plan, which will impose significantly higher impact fees for regional infrastructure needs.

"I think I've been consistent in my position, which is that growth needs to pay for itself," she said. "Whether we like it or not, we grow by about 25,000 people a year."

But Donna Branch-Gilby, a political activist challenging Bronson for the District 3 supervisor seat, said Bronson has become too friendly with developers and lost sight of big-picture issues of sustainability.

"Over time, she has become more and more in line with what developers are seeking," Branch-Gilby said.

The challenger did not point to specific votes on new development, but to the 8,000 acres that have been rezoned to allow for more development in the last five years and to the campaign contributions Bronson now gets from developers.

Development, construction and other business interests account for roughly one-third of Bronson's donations.

Branch-Gilby said she appreciates Bronson's work on the conservation plan and agrees with its general principles, but says the county has been too slow to get involved in regional water discussions and address long-term sustainability.

She said the county should encourage developers to look at infill opportunities in the city or at sites that already have water and sewer connections.

She suggested one way to do that is to put much higher impact fees on rural development with just one house on several acres, making denser, more urban development more economically appealing.

"Whatever techniques are available, we need to bring in people with expertise to study options," Branch-Gilby said. "We cannot afford to continue, economically and ecologically, to grow the way we have. I think people are ready to change."

Branch-Gilby said her experience as co-developer of Milagro Co-housing gave her valuable insight into sustainable living. The development, in the Tucson Mountains, reuses its wastewater for irrigation and uses clustered housing to preserve open space.

She said the county should require new buildings to harvest rainwater.

She also criticized the slow pace of water-cooperation talks between the city and the county. She said she feared members of an advisory committee are being overwhelmed with unnecessary detail and important decisions are being put off.

Bronson said Branch-Gilby talked in abstractions that made it difficult for Bronson to defend her record and difficult for voters to trust Branch-Gilby's decision-making.

"I think details matter. You cannot make good decisions without knowing all the details, and that disturbs me about my opponent," Bronson said. "Facts matter."

She said she agreed more development should go to urban areas and the conservation plan encourages that, but the county does not have control over those jurisdictions. She said rezonings often allow the county to protect open space and riparian areas that would be harmed if houses were developed at the existing zoning level.

"We have a lot of existing zoning that can be developed in an unregulated way," Bronson said. "We are working still and continuing to advocate for change at the state level. And sometimes we are faced with choices we'd rather not make, and you have to make the least bad choice."

She pointed to the water policy the county adopted last year, which allows the county to consider water use when deciding whether to allow new development; and the sustainability plan for county operations, which will move the county toward more renewable energy and building materials.

Bronson was endorsed by the Rincon Group of the Sierra Club and Carolyn Campbell, executive director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection.

Bronson and Branch-Gilby face each other in the Democratic primary election Tuesday. The winner faces Republican businessman Barney Brenner in the general election.