Arizona Progress & Gazette recently obtained some data from a poll conducted last month in Scottsdale, and it should give numerous audiences reasons to squirm.
The poll was conducted by a highly respected local polling firm and surveyed 400 Scottsdale voters late last month.
Axon’s favorability rating is just 23.9%. The Scottsdale based taser manufacturer has been battling citizens and city hall over its unpopular plans to build about 2,000 apartments at the site of its new headquarters near Hayden and the101. The corporate HQ was previously approved.
Axon also went on a spending spree at the Arizona Legislature and got a law passed to block a public vote on those apartments. Axon’s total unfavorable rating is 19%. The rest are neutral or have no opinion.
The Axon law is even more unpopular than the company. Just 17.2% agree with a law that threatens to tase an election on Axon’s apartment proposal. 75.8% oppose this special interest legislation. Only 7% are neutral or undecided. Here is how the question was posed:
After Scottsdale residents gathered enough signatures to place the Axon development project on the 2026 ballot, the state legislature-at Axon’s urging-passed a new law, signed by Governor Hobbs, that blocks certain local referendums related to zoning decisions. This change effectively allowed the Axon project to move forward without a public vote. Regardless of your opinion on the Axon project, do you agree or disagree with the state passing a law that limits the ability of local voters to challenge city decisions through a public referendum?
Survey results that dealt with development and traffic may explain why Axon and its legislation are cratering in the poll.
58.8% say the number of new apartments recently built in Scottsdale is too much, 8% say it is too little, and 26.8% say the number of new apartments being built in Scottsdale is about right.
The survey said 56% feel there is too much real estate development in Scottsdale, 7.4% say it’s not enough, while 32.1% say it’s about right.
77.6% of those surveyed say traffic is congested in Scottsdale. 20.2% say local traffic is not congested, and only 2.2% have no opinion.
While the poll finds Scottsdale dislikes special interest legislation, the rate of development and traffic, residents do like their firefighters. The Scottsdale Firefighters Association has a favorability rating of 72.8%. Its unfavorable rating is just 3.7%. 20% are neutral or have no opinion.
The recent results suggest any development proposal in Scottsdale these days is a difficult sell and that reducing opposition and/or justifying a need is a prerequisite for approval, because the electorate remains ornery, which was the primary reason for the significant council turnover that took place in 2024.