2018 election lingers in Phoenix with mayoral race runoff


The November 2018 elections aren’t done yet. A runoff in Phoenix’s mayoral election is taking place on March 12, 2019, between former Phoenix City Council members Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela.

They were the top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan special election on November 6, 2018, although neither candidate surpassed the 50 percent threshold to win outright. Gallego received 44 percent to Valenzuela’s 26 percent in a field of four candidates.

Gallego said her top three priorities would be public safety, infrastructure investments, and job growth. She said she has experience and a proven track record on infrastructure issues, pointing to her work on the campaign to pass Proposition 104, an infrastructure measure seeking to bring $31.5 billion of infrastructure investment over the next 35 years.

Valenzuela said his policy priorities included attracting, retaining, and developing talent, and motivating technology and high-growth companies to remain in Phoenix. He said that he brought an increased focus on public safety to the city council, including helping to secure $50 million in grants for public safety issues and developing the Canyon Corridor Crime Safety Initiative.

Two special elections for District 5 and District 8 of the Phoenix City Council—the seats Gallego and Valenzuela resigned from—will also be on the ballot on March 12.