Cheatsheet: Phoenix runoffs could skew city council more centrist

Two runoffs in Districts 6 and 8 will conclude in mid-March. Mayor Kate Gallego has endorsed candidates in the two runoffs to try to remake the council.

In some parts of Phoenix, the doorknocking and political mailers that started a year ago never stopped. Voters are still getting frequent text messages asking them to donate to candidates or talking smack about a political opponent.

Two Phoenix City Council districts are going to runoff elections in mid-March. Mail-in ballots just went out for the typically low-turnout local races, which must be called if one candidate in the November election didn’t receive more than 50% of the vote.

This year, the two races could decide whether Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego can actually advance her agenda. Gallego is trying to build a centrist coalition to lead the council by working against an incumbent in one of the runoffs and supporting an independent in another.

She’s thrown her support behind Kesha Hodge Washington over incumbent Carlos Garcia in South Phoenix’s District 8 and wants to see Kevin Robinson, an independent, win over Republican Sam Stone in the sprawling District 6. 

It’s both a practical play and a political one. If Gallego wants to get her favored policies passed, she needs more reliable votes on her side. And if she wants to run for a higher office in Arizona, particularly a statewide one, she’ll want centrist victories to tout on the campaign trail.

The plan could backfire: She could further alienate the progressive Garcia, who she said is already “very hard to work with.” If he wins, it potentially makes it even harder for her to get votes for her priorities. Advocates for police accountability and some former supporters have said her endorsement of Hodge Washington over Garcia frustrated them and changed their view of the mayor.

Gallego said her decisions on which candidates to support were about policy ideas and approaches to governing. She wants colleagues who can collaborate rather than “throwing bombs” and wants a council that can help her improve economic development and biosciences in the city. 

“We are at a point in our country where many people go to their corners and don't want to talk to people who have different forms of opinions,” Gallego said. “Both Kesha and Kevin have strong moral compasses, but they're willing to listen to people who have different perspectives. For local government, I find that very valuable.”

A controversy over the use of a city-owned suite at the Footprint Center has punctuated much of the District 8 race and highlighted divisions on the council. Garcia, along with several other council members, used the suite to attend Phoenix Suns games and a concert, Axios Phoenix’s Jessica Boehm revealed. He’s defended the use as advancing economic development, but the council is considering changes to its policy on using the suite.

The District 6 race is most notable for who isn’t running. Sal DiCiccio, the longtime District 6 councilman, is termed out. He provided much of the conservative counterweight on the council and is known for publicly butting heads with his colleagues over his past decade-plus in the office.

The next District 6 councilman could be a lot like DiCiccio — if his former chief of staff, Stone, wins — or could be the more subdued Robinson, who’d more often align with Gallego’s faction on the council.

Gallego’s quest for a solid voting bloc is further complicated by U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego’s run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. His congressional seat will attract a bevy of Democrats in the solidly blue Congressional District 3. Three current council members — Yassamin Ansari, Laura Pastor and Betty Guardado — could run for it, the Republic’s Taylor Seely reported. 

Even if your district isn’t on the ballot, you’ll want to pay attention to this year’s races. Cities advance much of the policies that affect your daily lives, like housing codes, water rates and police budgets. 

Depending on how the Phoenix council races shake out, we could see a council aligned behind a centrist mayor who would have more power as she works to respond to policing issues that have the U.S. Justice Department investigating the city and an increasing homelessness crisis that’s gotten the city sued by business owners. Or we could see a council deadlocked by interpersonal conflicts and political squabbles.

If you’re not sure whether you live in either of these districts, look up your address on this website. 

If you’re registered to vote in either of these districts, you already got your ballot via mail. You have until March 7 to drop it in the mailbox. 

If you want to vote early in person or drop off your ballot, early voting is underway at Phoenix City Hall, 200 W. Washington St., on the 15th floor.  

You can also vote in person at vote centers on March 11, 13 and 14. A map of voting center locations can be found online here.

Here’s a brief primer on the two districts in the runoffs and the candidates for each district. 

District 6

This district is Phoenix’s most weirdly drawn. It includes Ahwatukee, on the south side of South Mountain, but also includes the Arcadia and Biltmore areas. Sal DiCiccio has represented the area since 2009.

Sam Stone, DiCiccio’s former chief of staff who also worked on Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s campaign, wants his old boss’ job. But his political background and propensity for social media trolling give him baggage that makes his potential future colleagues and voters worry he’ll be too much like DiCiccio to work with others. 

Kevin Robinson, a longtime Phoenix Police officer who was once assistant police chief, has the backing of Mayor Kate Gallego and several other former mayors and council members. Robinson, an independent, has massively out-fundraised other candidates in the runoffs. 

Before the crowded eight-way November election for the seat, Robinson’s residency in the district was challenged in court by Moses Sanchez, who also ran for the seat. To prove he actually lived in a rental house in Ahwatukee rather than a home in Scottsdale, Robinson “provided photos of clothes in a bedroom closet, toiletries in a bathroom and milk and Cheerios in the kitchen,” KJZZ’s Christina Estes reported at the time. Robinson survived the residency challenge and got the most votes in November, but the question of where he lives still lingers on the campaign trail.

Further reading: Check out the Republic’s profiles of Stone and Robinson, both by Taylor Seely. 

District 8

Much of South Phoenix and parts of downtown fall into District 8, which goes as far north as Osborn Road and as far as 48th Street on its eastern boundary, grabbing other chunks of the city in jagged blocks on the southwest side.

Carlos Garcia, first elected to the seat in 2019, came to the role from an activist background. He co-founded and served as executive director of Puente Human Rights Movement, where he fought against harsh immigration policies during former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s reign. 

While both Democrats, Garcia and Gallego have mostly differed on policing, where Garcia has pushed for more oversight of city cops. Garcia grabbed more than 39% of the vote in November’s four-way election, making him the top vote-getter. 

Kesha Hodge Washington is a former assistant attorney general and lawyer who came to Phoenix from the Virgin Islands in 1999 for law school. She’s snagged endorsements from Gallego and other Democratic heavy-hitters, like former Mayor and current U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton.

Further reading: Get to know Hodge Washington and Garcia in these profiles from Seely. Read more about the Footprint Center suite ethics issue and a campaign finance violation by Garcia  from Axios Phoenix’s Jessica Boehm. Check out the Republic’s District 8 debate. 

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