Former Phoenix City Council member Kate Gallego defeated Daniel Valenzuela in the nonpartisan mayoral runoff election in Phoenix, Arizona. She led Valenzuela with over 58 percent of the votes according to early returns.
Public safety and sports facility funding were critical issues in the final weeks of the race, with satellite groups Revitalize Arizona and Moving Phoenix Forward releasing negative ads against Valenzuela and Gallego, respectively.
Gallego said her top three priorities in office would be public safety, infrastructure investments, and job growth. She said she had 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 through a transportation sales tax increase.
She is the first woman elected to the office in more than three decades.
The election was called after former Mayor Greg Stanton resigned his seat in 2018 to run for Congress. Gallego will serve the remainder of Stanton’s term until 2021.