By Alexander Lomax
The initial primary results have come in, and at the time of writing there are still a few questions but also a number of answers. There were a couple shocks, some more surprises, and increased clarity as to how the November elections will shake out.
First off, Republican turnout was robust both locally and throughout the county; they took an early lead in ballots returned and never relinquished it. GOP voters were energized and it showed; however, November will offer a different dynamic and this sort of imbalance is almost sure to narrow.
Regarding the Scottsdale Mayoral race, there had been speculation as to if Mayor Ortega would avoid a run-off and win outright, but that will not be the case. At the time of writing, Ortega holds a slim 2.2% lead over Lisa Borowsky, 41.7% to 38.5%, with Linda Milhaven coming in at third place at 20.8%, slightly surprising considering her pace of spending. Milhaven is a true public servant and an asset to the city however, and the city will be better off if she stays engaged in the civic process.
Next we turn to the Scottsdale City Council races, and there a few major surprises there; Jan Dubauskas was the main vote-getter and it appears as though she will avoid a run-off. Tammy Caputi was dominant in fundraising but currently sits in second place with 15.8%, Adam Kwasman rounds out the top three at 14.9%, with Mary McAllen and Tom Durham rounding out the top 5
With Dubauskas winning outright, four candidates were eliminated in this round: Justin Laos, Stephen Casares, Mason Gates and Bob Lettieri will not be moving on to November.
In the Congressional primaries for District 1, David Schweikert easily discarded each of his two primary opponents, but the real race was on the Democratic side, and with four very strong candidates and a generally tight race, state legislator Amish Shah will move on to face Schweikert with a 2.6% lead that has held steady through the overnight count drop. Shah once again showed that there is no substitute for the candidate themselves knocking on doors and talking to voters.
Paradise Valley will have a new Mayor next year, and in a three-way race with three very strong candidates we know who will go to the run-off in November: Anna Thomasson and Mark Stanton. Thomasson is another prolific door-knocker like Shah, the two of them again demonstrate the importance of this method of outreach. But Mark Stanton ran a strong, issues-based campaign coming in a competitive second place, setting the stage for an intensely competitive run-off.
As for the county primaries we’ve been watching, in perhaps the upset of the election, County Recorder Stephen Richer started the evening with a tight vote deficit to Justin Heap which only grew over the night, so Heap will face off against Democrat Tim Stringham in November. And lastly, Democrat Tyler Kamp will hold off newly-Dem, current County Sheriff Russ Skinner in the Dem primary for that role and will face off in the general election with Jerry Sheridan, who had a dominant win in the Republican primary.