Ethan Knowlden Shows Scottsdale How to Lose With Class

Ethan Knowlden ran for Scottsdale City Council this year and came up just short. A few weeks later he posted a sweaty selfie from a morning run in DC Ranch, captioned “Running in the 6’s (hours) right now means running in the 80’s (degrees). Which is healthier than any other form of running I’ve done lately.”

That’s it. No bitterness, no score-settling, no subtweet about the campaign. Just a guy laughing at himself and getting on with his life.

He Had Every Reason to Be Bitter

Here’s what makes it more impressive. Bob Littlefield qualified for the November runoff out of the primary, then withdrew afterward to fight the Axon apartment development from outside elected office instead. Because that withdrawal came after the results were already certified, his seat wasn’t backfilled. The runoff simply moved forward with three candidates for two seats.

Had Littlefield made that same decision even a little earlier, before certification, Knowlden was next in line and likely would have taken that runoff spot himself. Timing, not votes, is what kept him off the November ballot. That’s the kind of near-miss that turns most people sour. Instead, Scottsdale got a guy posting about sunrise runs in the August heat.

Losing With Grace and Dignity Matters

There’s an old saying that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. Campaigns are a pretty pure test of that math, and this was about as tough a test as it gets. Knowlden had a real, specific reason to be frustrated with how the race shook out, and he didn’t take it.

Scottsdale politics can get plenty sharp, and not every candidate handles a loss like this one. Some spend months after picking fights online or nursing grudges. Knowlden went for a run instead. That says something real about how he’ll show up in this community going forward, whether he runs again or not.