Phoenix Elects Mayor With Latino Surname For The First Time

Phoenix Elects Mayor With Latino Surname For The First Time

Phoenix has its first mayor with a Latino surname in Kate Gallego but not its first Latino as mayor.

Jessica Boehm, Arizona Republic, reports on last nights Phoenix mayoral run-off won by Kate Gallego over Daniel Valenzuela, was well as, the election of two new city council members.-

“Kate Gallego is Phoenix’s next mayor, beating opponent Daniel Valenzuela by a sizable margin in Tuesday’s election.

“We overcame doubters, rain, dark money — and a lot of it,” Gallego said in her celebratory speech shortly after the first numbers rolled in and as the crowd chanted, “Mayor Kate, Mayor Kate.”

She also thanked Valenzuela.

“I do want to take the time to thank Daniel for running. We both made sacrifices to run,” she said. “I know he has a lot of service ahead of him.”

Shortly after, Valenzuela conceded via Twitter and at an event with his supporters.

“I congratulate Kate Gallego on her victory tonight and I wish her the best in bringing this city together to address our most pressing needs, to reach our most ambitious goals,” he said. “Tonight’s journey may have ended differently than we had hoped, but I remain resolute in my willingness to create a Phoenix where everyone matters.”

Betty Guardado and Vania Guevara were leading early returns in the District 5 council election. Carlos Garcia and Michael Johnson were leading early returns in the District 8 council election.

Both of those races are expected to continue to a May runoff with the top two vote-getters.

The returns released as of 11 p.m. Tuesday accounted for most mail-in ballots received prior to election day and ballots cast at vote centers on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Here’s the result breakdown so far:

Mayor

• Kate Gallego 58.44 percent
• Daniel Valenzuela 41.56 percent

District 5

• Betty Guardado 36.15 percent
• Vania Guevara 24.79 percent
• Audrey Bell-Jenkins 23.21 percent
• Lydia Hernandez 15.22 percent

District 8

• Carlos Garcia 28.28 percent
• Michael Johnson 22.17 percent
• Lawrence Robinson 20.09 percent
• Warren Stewart Jr. 9.69 percent
• Gilbert Arvizu 9.31 percent
• Camaron Stevenson 6.01 percent
• Onesimus A. Strachan 4.01 percent

Gallego victory party

The Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix was packed with supporters at about 8:15 p.m. when Gallego’s father, James Widland, took the stage.

He said people often ask him if he knew when Gallego was growing up that she’d become the mayor of Phoenix.

“It never crossed my mind that she couldn’t be mayor of Phoenix,” he said.

He then welcomed “the next mayor of Phoenix” to the stage as Gallego tried to wrangle her 2-year-old son, Michael, who preferred running around the stage to posing for photos.

Gallego called him “the cutest campaigner” and promised to “build a city so cool that he will be proud to call home.”

She thanked her staff, her supporters and Phoenix city employees and said she looks forward to getting to work immediately.

“I want to make a promise to you, that I will work as hard as I can to be your advocate, to listen and to push Phoenix to the next level to be a city that works for everyone,” Gallego said.

She invited the crowd to her swearing-in ceremony on March 21, “but for now, let’s celebrate.”

“Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys blasted from the speakers as she grabbed Michael and hugged her campaign staffers and volunteers.

How did we get here?

Former Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, resigned last year to successfully run for Congress, setting the stage for the special election to complete the remainder of his term.

Gallego and Valenzuela are both former council members. The mayoral election is officially nonpartisan, but both candidates are Democrats.

The once-sleepy city election heated up in the final months, with millions of dollars in outside money supporting both candidates flooding in to try to lure undecided voters.

Gallego will inherit a cash-strapped city budget and an often disagreeable council. She will also have to re-run for the mayoral position next year, as Stanton’s term expires in April 2021.

Who is the new mayor?

Gallego, 37, is a Phoenix transplant. She grew up in New Mexico and moved to Phoenix after graduating from Harvard and securing a master of business administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to becoming a councilwoman, she worked on strategic planning and economic development for Salt River Project.

Gallego would be the second elected female mayor, and the first mother with a small child to serve in the role.

Gallego served on the Phoenix City Council for 4½ years.

The candidates’ records

Gallego and Valenzuela had virtually identical voting records during their stints on the council.

But in the final weeks of the campaign, Valenzuela’s campaign made a lurch to the right, painting the candidate as more conservative in hopes of wooing undecided Republican voters. Moses Sanchez, the Republican mayoral candidate, lost in the primary election.

Two of Valenzuela and Gallego’s major differences involve public financing of professional sports and a 2016 property tax increase.

Valenzuela supported a deal the council approved in January, which committed $150 million of public money to renovate Talking Stick Resort Arena, where the Phoenix Suns play. The funds are generated from a tax on rental cars and hotel rooms.

He also helped broker a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers to keep the team’s spring-training facility in Maryvale. The deal is considered one of the most taxpayer-friendly in Arizona professional sports deals.

Gallego opposed the Suns and Brewers deals.

She’s been vocal in her opposition of supporting professional sports teams with tax dollars, suggesting the city use the tourist tax revenue on more pressing needs.

Separately, in 2016, Gallego voted against a property tax increase that would have helped finance the city’s 2016-2017 budget.

Although Gallego voted against the property tax levy, she did vote for the city budget, which included funding for the police and fire departments.

Valenzuela voted for both the budget and the property tax hike.

Who are the council candidates?

In addition to the mayoral election, there were two City Council seats up for grabs.

Gallego and Valenzuela had to vacate their seats to run for mayor, setting up elections for those spots.

District 5, Valenzuela’s former district, covers most of west Phoenix, including Maryvale and Villa de Paz. It’s a largely Latino and mid-to-low-income area.

There were four candidates vying for that council seat: Audrey Bell Jenkins, Betty Guardado, Lydia Hernandez and interim Councilwoman Vania Guevara, who the council appointed to the seat in August.

District 8, Gallego’s former district, includes parts of downtown, south Phoenix and Laveen. It’s historically been a heavily African-American district.

Seven candidates qualified for the ballot in District 8: Gilbert Arvizu, Carlos Garcia, Michael Johnson, Lawrence Robinson, Camaron Stevenson, Warren Stewart, Jr. and Onesimus A. Strachan.