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: Thank You Scottsdale

By Councilwoman Tammy Caputi The results of the general election are complete, and the outcome is disappointing. We never let up after the primary, talking to residents and businesses all over the city. We maintained a positive, forward-thinking, Independent message and refused to get drawn in to negative campaigning, but unfortunately this was an anti-incumbent cycle that seemed to value … Read More

Political Observations from the Beverly Hills and Bel Air of Arizona

What a week it was for the Valley’s toniest towns. New leadership was elected in each community, prompting numerous observations. *To the bold go the spoils.  Both Scottsdale Mayor-Elect Lisa Borowsky and Mayor-Elect Mark Stanton jumped into uphill races.  Yet, both prevailed for different reasons.  Stanton not only outhustled Anna Thomason, he outflanked her with endorsements and benefitted from his Republican credentials in … Read More

Scottsdale’s Least Favorite Bully Returns

By Ronald Sampson Just when I had hoped that it would be the end of it, that the city of Scottsdale would get a reprieve from the constant harassment, it persists. Like a woman at a club who keeps getting hit on by a guy that won’t take no for an answer, regardless of her friends and her beefy boyfriend … Read More

Early Takeaways from Yesterday’s Election: An Election of Surprises

As you read this, you may be just as surprised at the outcome at the national level as I am. While polling composites generally seemed to have Trump with a slight lead, that slight lead looks to have turned into an electoral landslide the likes of which were technically possible but not probable. But while there is already considerable pontificating … Read More

Thank You Councilman Durham! I’m Honored to be Cannon Fodder for You!

By Alexander Lomax For Scottsdale political wonks, it’s been a fun year regardless, but few developments have been as fun as Councilman Tom Durham essentially peacing-out of his re-election campaign and turning all of his efforts towards defeating Adam Kwasman in his race to defeat him. Rarely has an active candidate told everyone publicly, “Don’t vote for me, vote for … 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

The District 4 House Race: The Richest State House Race in Arizona History?

Regular readers of this blog (or other political nerds who simply haven’t come across the Arizona Progress & Gazette yet) understand that the race to control both the Arizona House of Representatives and the Arizona Senate is an incredibly tight and important one. With mere one seat advantages in both the House and Senate, Arizona Republicans’ control of both chambers … Read More

A Biannual Scourge: Political Sign Destroyers

Every two years, we all know what’s coming in Maricopa County; every single intersection with any traffic at all is inundated with street signs. All four corners sign six, eight, or ten signs put end-to-end, some towering over others, some with passive-aggressive mini-signs put next to them. It has turned into the lowest level of politicking, typified by boring designs … Read More