7 key local races to watch in Phoenix area in Arizona primary election 2024

Time is almost up for voters around Maricopa County to mail in their ballots. While most eyes are focused on races at the top of the ballot, plenty of local elections are heating up.

Some are controversial, others consequential, some both. Throughout the Phoenix area, races for mayor or for city or town council will have significant bearing on how those communities will develop and whether they can be governed effectively.

Towns and cities face some big challenges: providing housing people can afford, attracting industries that offer well-paid jobs, easing commutes, dealing with state-mandated revenue cuts, curbing a lingering homelessness crisis, keeping up with the effects of rapid growth, providing adequate public safety, developing land responsibly and maintaining basic civility at public meetings.

Voters can check on the status of their mailed-in ballot on Maricopa County’s website at https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/voter-dashboard-login. Those who choose to vote by mail must mail their ballot by July 23 or drop it off at a ballot drop-off location or voting location by July 30. Or they can vote in person on July 30.

In contested races, if no candidate gets eclipses 50% of the votes, the two highest voter-getters will move forward to a runoff election in November. For full election coverage, check out our comprehensive voter guide.

Here are seven intriguing local elections worth watching.

Could Scottsdale have a power shift?

In Scottsdale, there are hotly contested races for the mayor's seat and a big field of candidates for City Council. The result could tip the balance of power in City Hall and dramatically shape the city's appetite for approving developments.

Three candidates, including incumbent David Ortega, are seeking to become Scottsdale mayor. Ortega took the role in 2020 and also served one term on the City Council in the early aughts. Challenging him are two former councilmembers: Linda Milhaven, who served three terms on the dais from 2011 to 2023, and Lisa Borowski, who served from 2008 to 2012.

In the Scottsdale council race, nine candidates are seeking three seats. They are:

• Adam Kwasman, 41, is a personal injury lawyer who served one term as a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015.
• Jan Dubauskas, 48, is a corporate lawyer for U-Haul who is active in the local Republican political scene. She’s among the most moderate of the opposition candidates in regard to her campaign rhetoric.
• Mason Gates, 21, is a sales agent at a commercial real estate investment firm who has also worked in business and marketing.
• Bob Lettieri, 79, is the chief financial officer of a Scottsdale-based software company that served as the Arizona Republican Party's state treasurer from 2017 to 2021.
• Maryann McAllen, 60, a long-time resident who has served on numerous parent teacher organizations and as the chair of Scottsdale's Parks and Recreation Commission.
• Justin Laos, 29, is a software engineer who has served on Scottsdale’s Board of Adjustment and is active in multiple community organizations.
• Stephen Casares, 37, is a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, worked as an economic intelligence analyst for a private firm, and is now studying to become a high school teacher.

Both contests involve a slate of opponents trying to defeat status quo candidates.

Will 'Gilbert Goons' fallout shape the next Town Council?

Gilbert voters will choose between two remaining candidates for mayor in a race that has already been heavily affected by the ongoing "Gilbert Goons" scandal involving viscous random attacks by mostly affluent teenagers and the police follow-up.

The political climate after the Goons revelations already prompted two mayoral candidates, including incumbent Brigette Peterson, to drop out. And debate about the town's response to the Goons phenomenon has played heavily in competitive town council races, too.

All this comes after a year of squabbles over council ethics probes as members take aim at each other. Much of it revolved around leaders' responsiveness to the public.

The mayor's race pits Scott Anderson against Natalie DiBernardo.

Anderson was elected to the council in 2016 and is currently serving as the town’s vice mayor. Anderson was the town’s Planning and Zoning director for 12 years before becoming the director of the Riparian Institute focused on developing Gilbert’s Riparian Preserve. He retired in 2013. DiBernardo is a business owner and realtor. In 2022, she ran as a Republican state House candidate for Legislative District 14.

Meanwhile, four candidates are seeking two seats on the Town Council, after a year of turmoil. They are:

• Aaron Accurso, a procurement and operations manager in the local market. He's lived in Gilbert since 2007.
• Kenny Buckland, a former Gilbert police commander from 1995 to 2016 who currently works as a senior director of sales.
• Monte Lyons, a former Air Force veteran with over 35 years of experience in aerospace manufacturing.
• Noah Mundt, who is a co-founder of a consulting company for water and energy business solutions and is the chair of the town's Planning Commission.

Mesa to pick a new mayor in field of big names

Mesa politics tend to be less melodramatic than in its neighboring communities, but voters there have a momentous decision. They will pick their first new mayor in 10 years and have some local heavyweights competing for the seat in a crowded field.

The vote could be a referendum, of sorts, on the legacy of outgoing Mayor John Giles. Voters will decide whether they support candidates who plan to continue his agenda for growth and modernization — "momentum," as he calls it — or if they reject that approach for a change in direction.

Five men are vying to replace Giles and lead the state’s third-most populous city. They include Carey Davis, Mark Freeman, Scott Neely, Scott Smith and Ryan Winkle. The big names are Smith and Freeman.

Smith is seeking to make a comeback to the role as mayor. He was previously voted in twice for the role in 2008 and in 2012. He resigned in the middle of his second term to run as the Republic gubernatorial nominee in 2014, which he lost to Doug Ducey.

Freeman currently serves on Mesa City Council representing District 1, the north-central area of the city, and is term-limited. He worked as a fireman for 31 years in the Mesa Fire and Medical Department before retiring in 2011. His ancestry goes as far back as the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pioneers who settled in Mesa.

Davis served as mayor of San Bernardino, California, from 2014 to 2018. After his retirement in 2019, he moved to Mesa to be closer to his family. He formally worked as a certified public accountant.

Neely is a former 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate. Neely moved 20 years ago from California to Mesa and started a concrete business venture.

Winkle is a former Mesa council member who was ousted in 2017 after a DUI charge. Winkle recently stepped down as the executive director of the Mesa-based community organization RAIL CDC to focus on his mayoral run.

The council races are more sedate.

Eight Mesa City Council candidates are vying to take three seats up for election this July.

In District 1 will have to choose a new council member between four candidates. The four-way race is between candidates Rich Adams, Zachary Hichez, Tim Meyer and Ron Williams. District 2, in the east-central area of the city, has two candidates vying for the seat, including incumbent Councilmember Julie Spilsbury and Melody Whetstone. District 3, which includes Sloan Park and the Asian District in west Mesa, is a two-way race with incumbent Vice Mayor Francisco Heredia and Marc Lavender.

In Fountain Hills, Joe Arpaio brings name recognition in a deeply divided town

Fountain Hills also has races worth watching because of internal acrimony on the current Town Council. This is another panel that has been mired in ethics claims and accusations of corruption.

Adding pizzazz to the Fountain Hills mayoral contest is the appearance on the ballot of one of the most famous names in Arizona politics: former six-term Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He lost badly to the same opponent four years ago, but this time a whole slate of like-minded candidates is trying to take power.

Three candidates are vying for mayor, and eight candidates are running for the three available council seats. The outcome will influence everything from the town's approach to affordable housing and growth to the tone of its often divisive political discourse.

The Fountain Hills mayoral contest involves three individuals well known in the local political scene:

• Ginny Dickey, 68, is the incumbent who was first elected Fountain Hills mayor in 2018 and re-elected in 2020 and 2022. Dickey was an Arizona Senate staffer, part-time teacher, bookkeeper, school board member and assistant director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
• Arpaio, 92, served as Maricopa County sheriff from 1992 to 2016. He was convicted for contempt of federal court for his sluggish progress complying with court-ordered civil rights reforms stemming from a class-action lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
• Gerry Friedel, 67, currently serves on the Fountain Hills City Council. He worked nearly 22 years as a loan officer and another 17 years as a financial planner.

Meanwhile, voters have a wealth of choice for the open council seats. This year’s race is the first in Fountain Hills since a vitriolic and heavily partisan 2022 election, driven largely driven by a group called Reclaim Our Town, which sought to establish a hardline Republican majority on council. Running in those races are:

• Peggy McMahon, 73, was elected to Fountain Hills City Council in 2020 and is the only incumbent on the ballot.
• Clayton Corey, 39, is currently a member of the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Directors of the Fountain Hills Sanitary District.
• Mathew Corrigan, 71, spent his career in sales, working as a small business owner and district sales manager.
• Gayle Earle, 65, is a small business owner, having owned and operated a pool service business for more than 30 years.
• Henry Male, 67, is employed with Penske Automotive Scottsdale BMW and is currently the president of the Fountain Hills Theater Board of Directors.
• Art Tolis, 53, is a former Fountain Hills Council Member who was first elected in 2016. He is the president of Tolis Mortgage Financial Group.
• Robert Wallace, 39, is a real estate agent with experience in IT desktop support and systems administration.
• Rick Watts, 73, is currently on the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission.

Arizona primary election 2024:Who is running for mayor, city council?

Surprise mayor's race has been notable for mudslinging

The race for mayor of Surprise has been muddied with Councilmember Aly Cline engaging in some questionable campaigning activities, for which she’s been formally reprimanded. Her opponent, Kevin Sartor, is hammering her on the censure, painting her as unfit for office.

Cline, 71, has represented Surprise’s second district since being elected in 2020. She’s turned her attention to higher office, hoping to replace Mayor Skip Hall. She spent more than 30 years in the financial services industry, holding leadership positions at Wells Fargo Bank, First Interstate Bank and Security Pacific Bank.

Sartor, 41, is a retired Army officer who led combat missions during the Iraq War. He now works for the Dysart Unified School District as its safety coordinator and served as the chair of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

They, and one write-in candidate, are competing to fill Hall’s seat. He’s leaving office after spending the past 16 years as an elected public servant in Surprise, six as mayor.

Surprise’s mayoral contest will coincide with races for three of the council’s district seats — Districts 2, 3 and 4. All three are uncontested, with only one incumbent, Councilmember Patrick Duffy of District 3, seeking reelection.

Glendale council race also mired in allegations and countercharges

In Glendale, five candidates are seeking three council seats, in district races.

In Glendale's Cactus District, Lupe Conchas is an unknown name challenging longtime incumbent Councilman Ian Hugh. Hugh is leveling attacks on Conchas, referring to him as a defund-the-police candidate and using altered versions of his mugshot when Conchas was arrested for protesting immigration policy.

In the Yucca District race, Dianna Guzman and Hugh ally has applied similar tactics against Lupe Encinas.

In both races, the challengers have accused the incumbents of misleading the voters.

In the third district race, as with the mayor's race, the incumbent is unopposed.

Peoria's ambitious airport plan shapes council race

A race to watch is the one for Peoria Mesquite District. Three candidates are vying for this open seat that represents a crucial area of the city’s long-term future. One candidate is a major supporter of Mayor Jason Beck, a strong booster of building an airport on open land owned by the state.

That candidate would help advance the mayor’s agenda, while the other two, staunch airport opponents, would likely act as roadblocks to the airport proposal and other Beck agenda topics.

In each of the two other council districts up for grabs, only one qualified candidate will appear on the ballot.

Running for office in the Mesquite District are:

Thomas Bottorf, who has a nearly 30-year career as an electrical engineer in the Valley and is focused on the semiconductor industry and gained experience in sales engineering.

Matt Bullock, a businessman who founded two technology companies, who served on the Peoria Unified School District’s governing board as president from 2013 to 2016.

Laura Page, a senior adviser for U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California's 1st Congressional District. Before that, she was the deputy chief administration officer in Butte County and the disaster recovery director in the town of Paradise.