Following the 2016 Scottsdale mayoral race between Jim Lane and Bob Littlefield we chided the latter for his failure to ever call Mayor Lane and congratulate him. No matter how disappointed or angry a losing candidate may be grace should prevail.
Bob Littlefield never did call Lane. Unfortunately, Scottsdale is back to the future as Lisa Borowsky has purportedly not conceded or called Mayor-Elect David Ortega.
That’s a shame. As ballots have been tabulated since November 3rd Borowsky has drawn closer to Ortega. Her margin of loss is likely to be just 4%.
She could have and perhaps should have won. That’s tough to think about. But Borowsky should also take solace in a race well run. Few at the outset thought her likely to be within turning just a few thousand votes to become Scottsdale’s next Mayor. Borowsky has much to be proud of. Campaigns can often diminish people due to loss or form. But not in this case. Borowsky’s reputation is better for having undertaken a race well run. It simply was a Democratic year in the suburbs, as exemplified by Joe Biden winning everything south of the Loop 101.
Borowsky can now enhance her reputation further by calling Ortega to concede and congratulate. Those are never fun calls to make. But they are the right calls, and something someone else 2000 miles to the east should be doing too.