It was a truly interesting election season in Scottsdale this year, as incumbent Mayor Dave Ortega was ousted by a significant margin, the city council will welcome three new members, and two propositions won by wide margins. Some of these items are related and some are indicative of wider trends within the city’s electorate. In this three-part series we get … Read More
What Now for the Soon-to-be-Former Mayor? Mayor Dave Ortega’s Next Potential Steps
For winners of political campaigns, the to-do list is a fairly clear one: prepare themselves for the office, consider the staff they’ll need, and be ready to hit the ground running. What is next for elected officials who lose their re-election campaigns is far less frequently talked about. What about Scottsdale Mayor Dave Ortega? After what was presumed to be … Read More
Lisa Borowsky’s Path to Victory: How’d She Do It?
In a season of many election surprises locally, few were as surprising at the Scottsdale Mayoral race, where Lisa Borowsky overcame a significant deficit in the August primary to win a decisive victory over incumbent Mayor Dave Ortega. Now that we have the value of hindsight, it’s worth considering how this significant upset happened. So how did it? First, it’s … Read More
Guest Editorial: Scottsdale’s Future is Bright… But Not Guaranteed
By Scottsdale Mayor-Elect Lisa Borowsky By every significant measure, Scottsdale is ready for its tomorrow, from a solid tax base to government resources to tourist draws to open spaces, on and on. We should succeed; we will succeed. The question is: What form will that success take? As Election Day retreats to results, let’s pause for a moment and take … Read More
Scottsdale Mayoral Campaign Update: Where Do the Candidates Stand?
The Scottsdale Mayoral run-off between Mayor David Ortega and Lisa Borowsky is entering its final stages, and there are a number of things we can glean from the final stretch. First, the last campaign finance reports of note have been released, and that offers crucial insight. Q3 was a very strong fundraising quarter for Mayor Ortega, raising $113K and leaving … Read More
BREAKING NEWS: They’re Back…
A movie phrase made famous by Poltergeist apparently is the long rumored reality as Axon is purportedly readying to return its immensely unpopular apartment plan to Scottsdale decision-making dais. And in the “you can’t make this up” category, they are apparently targeting Planning Commission and City Council hearings immediately after the election on November 13th and November 19th. Too cute by half, but more … Read More
Early Election Results: Potential Shocks, Numerous Surprises
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; … Read More
The Trump Assassination Attempt: How Will It Impact Our Elections?
We don’t have to tell you what happened last Saturday in Pennsylvania; the shot heard round the world that came quite literally one inch away from upending everything as we know it in American politics. At the time of writing there is still plenty we do not know, including the shooter’s motives, so we will not speculate. We also want … Read More
Sparks Fly in Recent Scottsdale Mayoral Debate
As you almost certainly know, Scottsdale voters will decide on July 30th whether or not to give David Ortega a second term. Former councilmembers Lisa Borowsky and Linda Milhaven are taking him on and attempting to make it to a run-off election in November, and a recent forum demonstrated both that the knives have officially come out, and what specific … Read More