We had heard rumors, we had heard speculation, but it’s all just that until confirmed. When we had heard that Scottsdale Councilmember Tom Durham was going to “quiet quit” his race for re-election, we took it with a grain of salt. Now we can confirm that our sources were indeed correct.
In a recent City Council candidate forum, Durham took away any uncertainty as to the veracity of that rumor, when he told Scottsdale voters very bluntly “to not vote for me in November. And I would ask that you vote for the two ladies to my sides here.” He was referring to candidate Mary McAllen and Councilwoman Tammy Caputi.
The full frontal assault on Kwasman shouldn’t be a major surprise, as Durham issued this scathing op-ed about Kwasman, questioning why he wouldn’t show up to forums and excoriating him for views that Durham deemed as ignorant and extreme. Durham seems to believe that Kwasman is an ideologue who isn’t concerned with the typically boring ins-and-outs of city governance and is more concerned about weaponizing a tenuous grasp of the truth in order to win public office.
It represents an interesting career arc from Durham; after all, a salient question would be wondering why he would even announce for re-election if he was going to bow out anyway. Often that would be after a scandal surfaces, the old “going to spend more time with my family” canard. There is no indication that this is the case; moreover, extremely tepid and essentially non-existent fundraising told the tale of someone whose heart didn’t seem to be in it. One would tend to think that after announcing, he realized that he just didn’t want to go through with the arduous process of being a good candidate.
So will this move truly benefit them? Well one doesn’t need the help; Councilwoman Tammy Caputi is a stalwart fundraiser and was close to moving forward in the August election. It is difficult to see any permutations where she does not finish in the top two in November and thus secure re-election. McAllen’s fate is much less optimistic however; with only about $4,000 cash on hand after the last campaign finance filing all the way back in July, one must hope that she’s found a way to raise substantial funds and at least put a zero at the end of that number in the months since.
Additionally, the party lines are now drawn; the local and legislative parties will likely get involved, with McAllen being supported by local Dem groups and Kwasman local Republican groups. While turnout for Democrats is likely to improve over the August election, the question of whether they can overcome a natural Republican advantage is much murkier.