While much of the media oxygen was taken up last week by Democrat gains in Virginia, the outcome of a ballot initiative in Arizona's most liberal city came as a surprise.

In Tucson, voters rejected efforts to turn the city into a sanctuary for illegal aliens.

"The hotly-contested 'sanctuary city' initiative lost in a landslide last week, but there were a handful of precincts near the University of Arizona and in downtown Tucson where the measure found success," the Arizona Daily Star reported. "The controversial initiative to make Tucson the state’s first “sanctuary city” is believed to have played a major role in turning out Republicans to vote, as there was no GOP candidate for mayor this year."

Interestingly, the failure of the initiative doesn't seem to rest solely with Republicans since voters also put Democrats on the city council. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city 2-1.

"Three City Council seats were up for grabs on election night, and the Democrats took them all. The party has had complete control over Tucson for four years, and on Tuesday it won two more years," Arizona Public Media reports. "Tucson council elections are citywide, meaning all voters can choose candidates in each ward. Early vote counts show all the Democrats with around a 20,000-vote lead over their Republican rivals."

The protection of illegal aliens, including violent criminal aliens, in sanctuary cities across the country has been a highly contested issue for years. The Federation for American Immigration Reform sees a potential pattern forming.

"Seventy-one percent of the city voters, including its left-leaning mayor and council members, rejected the initiative. A 71 percent majority means that opposition to sanctuary extends across party and ideological lines. While more than 560 sanctuary jurisdictions exist in the country, these two game-changing moves are refreshing and should serve as models for other cities, counties, and states nationwide," the organization points out. "Across the nation, local voters and elected officials are barring sanctuary policies–policies that do not allow local and state officials to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Within the past week, both Tucson, Arizona and Montgomery County, Maryland, halted their sanctuary policies at some capacity as residents placed public safety over radical open borders policies that undermine federal law and harbor criminal illegal aliens."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is still focused on working with local law enforcement to rid American communities of violent criminal aliens.