Top Phoenix general elections to watch

PHOENIX (AZFamily) – Election Day is November 5th and early voting is underway. Here’s a look at the top races to watch in the state capital of Phoenix.

mayor

Incumbent Kate Gallego is seeking re-election after winning a special runoff election in 2019. She ran for re-election in 2020 and received the highest number of votes ever in a mayoral election.

While the city is holding nonpartisan mayoral elections, Gallego is associated with the Democrats. She has touted her success in attracting business and investment to the city, including a $65 billion semiconductor plant, and making the city more climate resilient.

Her opponent is Matt Evans, a Phoenix native and Republican. He calls Phoenix a “city of missed opportunities” because of Democratic leadership and points to the homeless problems.

City Council District 3

Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 will elect council members this year. Ann O’Brien in District 1, which represents the northwest part of the city, is running unopposed.

In District 3, which includes parts of Sunnyslope and Moon Valley, incumbent Debra Stark is running against Ayensa Millan.

Stark was appointed in 2016, elected by voters in 2017 and won re-election in 2021. She says she has helped find ways to cut through bureaucracy to help property owners start businesses or build dream homes.

Millan is a lawyer and first-generation immigrant. She says the city has experienced tremendous growth, but available housing and wages haven’t kept up.

Millan says she will bring a “fresh perspective” with “forward-thinking” leadership. She is also a contestant on Moms Demand Action Gunsense.

City Council District 5

In District 5, which covers parts of west Phoenix, incumbent Betty Guardado is running against JJ Martinez.

Guardado was elected in a special election in 2019 and is now running for re-election. She was an organizing director for a union representing 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and the Phoenix area. She says she has raised living standards for working families and created educational opportunities at all levels.

An Arizona native, Martinez spent most of his life in Maryvale and worked as a first responder for more than 26 years before retiring in 2020. He says he’s running because he wants to tackle the problems of high crime, increasing homelessness and the fentanyl epidemic. His ward promised to “address these problems head on.”

City Council District 7

The race for District 7, which includes parts of Southwest and downtown Phoenix, is somewhat complicated.

There are two contests on the ballot in November: a special election for a temporary term until April 2025 and another regular election for a full term starting in April.

If none of the four candidates receive more than 50% of the vote in the special election in November, a special runoff election will take place in March 2025.

The incumbent is Carlos Galindo-Elvira. He was appointed last April after Yassamin Ansari resigned to run for Congress but lost in the Democratic primary.

Special election:

In addition to Galindo-Elvira, Martyn Bridgeman and Michael Nowakowski are candidates for the special election.

Galindo-Elvira is an Arizona native who served in local politics in the city of Hayden before living in District 7 for nearly 20 years. His council salary has gone to nonprofits in the district, and he says he will protect the office’s “nonpartisan role.”

Bridgeman is a native Phoenician and real estate agent. He is also the co-founder of The SEEN Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and amplifying the voices of BIPOC LGBTQ Arizonans. With the motto “Not left, not right, just forward” he wants to improve safety and local public transport.

Voters may recognize Nowakowski’s name as he represented District 7 on the City Council from 2008 to 2019. He voted to expand light rail in south Phoenix and said people have asked him to run for City Council this year. He says his top priorities are combating homelessness and improving safety in neighborhoods.

Regular choice:

Bridgeman and Nowakowski are also running for the full term. They are joined by Anna Hernandez and Marcelino Quiñonez.

Hernandez was elected to the State Senate in District 24 in 2022 and is a native of Phoenix. She says she has achieved bipartisan results on affordable housing, accessible mental health care and police accountability. She says she’s running because the council has “ignored the real problems in our neighborhoods for too long.”

Quiñonez immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in south Phoenix. He was a member of the House of Representatives, where he said he played a leading role in passing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and helping provide millions of dollars in new funding for public schools, housing projects and more.

Proposal 487

This has to do with the spending limit for Phoenix. The local alternative spending limit has been in effect since 1999, with voters only approving its continuation in 2020, allowing the city to set the annual spending limit equal to the annual budget. If not approved, it will rely on a standard state formula that city officials say would be equal to 1979 to 1980 levels when adjusted for inflation and population and would cost the city $2.1 billion in the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year.

Proposal 488

Voters will be asked to approve the latest version of the city’s General Plan, which the City Council approved in April. The plan for the city’s growth over the next decade includes prioritizing a “more connected Phoenix” by connecting the city to prosperity, health and the environment.

Proposal 489

This measure would increase the salaries of elected officials. The mayor’s salary would increase from $88,000 to $103,840 and city council members’ salaries would increase from $61,600 to $77,000 per year. City officials say elected officials haven’t received a raise in nearly 20 years.

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