The mayoral election for Phoenix, Arizona, United States, in 2011 was held in a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

on August 30, 2011, and November 8, 2011.

Greg Stanton Gregory John Stanton (born March 8, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative from , serving since 2019. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was previously Mayor of Phoenix, mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, ...

, a former city councilman, was elected over Wes Gullett, and took office on January 3, 2012, succeeding Phil Gordon, who held the office of

Mayor of Phoenix In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

from 2004 to 2012. The election coincided with the Phoenix

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

elections to the four odd-numbered districts (1, 3, 5, 7).

Background

Due to the City of Phoenix's limit of two four-year terms, current Mayor Phil Gordon was ineligible to run for mayor again. As all municipal elections in the City of Phoenix are

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

, the political affiliations of the respective candidates were not present on the ballot paper. In addition, the race was widely regarded as very competitive compared to previous elections, as the last three incumbent mayors ran with little to no opposition.

Candidates

All candidates had to at least 1500 signatures to appear on the August 30 ballot. The city clerk reviewed the signatures and candidates with enough valid signatures appeared on the ballot; the City Clerk had until June 11 at the latest to review all candidates' signatures. Thane Eichenauer failed to collect enough signatures to formally appear on the ballot, but said that he would run a

write-in campaign A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

. Alexander Malkoon also fell just short of the 1,500 signatures needed, complimented the slate of remaining candidates and announced he would not run as a write in candidate. The following candidate collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot:Our Campaigns – Mayor – Phoenix, AZ Primary Race – Aug 30, 2011
/ref> * Anna Brennan, businesswoman ( Republican) * Wes Gullett, businessman and campaign worker (Republican) * Claude Mattox, District 5 Councilman (Republican) * Peggy Neely, former District 2 Councilwoman (Republican) * Greg Stanton, former District 6 Councilman and former Deputy

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

( Democratic) *

Jennifer Wright Jennifer Wright is an American author and journalist. Wright has written six books and is the political editor-at-large of ''Harper's Bazaar''. She was one of the founders of the now defunct website TheGloss.com. Early life Wright graduated f ...

, attorney ( Republican and

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event, typically held in the afternoon, featuring the consumption of tea and light refreshments. Social tea drinking rituals are observed in many cultures worldwide, both historically and in the present day. A ...

-affiliated)

Campaign

District 11 Mayoral Forum

On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, the Arizona Legislative District 11 Republican Party invited Republican candidates Peggy Neely, Wes Gullett, Claude Mattox, and Jennifer Wright to a mayoral forum. All but Mattox attended, a Mattox campaign staff member claiming she never received an e-mail of details of the event. In reaction to the snub, Democratic candidate Greg Stanton said that if a Democratic-sponsored mayoral forum was held, he would not attend if Republicans were excluded.

Fundraising

Cash on hand As of 12/31/10 * Wes Gullett – $54,600 * Claude Mattox – $340,000 * Peggy Neely – $88,000 * Greg Stanton – $89,000

Polling

Stanton vs. Gullett vs. Mattox vs. Neely, Motorola Group 01/24/11 – 01/28/11 * Stanton – 17.0% * Gullett – 8.2% * Mattox – 11.2% * Neely – 23.8%

Debates

April 4 debate

Candidates Thane Eichenauer, Wes Gullett, Claude Mattox and Greg Stanton attended the first debate of the campaign. Issues covered included public safety, economic development, education, and the issues of the LGBT community. They addressed the status of Public Safety Manager Jack Harris – who was suspended from overseeing the Phoenix Police Department – and the city's subsidy deal with CityNorth developers, a project that garnered the City of Phoenix a lawsuit over their alleged violation of the gift clause of the Arizona Constitution.
The debate, sponsored by LGBT-rights organization

Equality Arizona Equality Arizona is a statewide political advocacy organization in Arizona that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights, including same-sex marriage. History Equality Arizona was formed in 1992 as the Arizona Human ...

, saw all candidates claim that they believed in the rights of the gay and lesbian population of Phoenix, with Greg Stanton appearing the most supportive of gay rights, saying "I support equality" when asked if gay and lesbian partnerships should be recognized by the government.

April 19 debate

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a Public university, public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union Hi ...

held the second mayoral forum of the race, with the same four candidates as the first.Voters want less rhetoric, more ideas from candidates
/ref> However, in this debate, Mayoral hopefuls were asked to share their partisan affiliation. Eichenauer said he became a Libertarian when he was a student, Claude Mattox told the crowd that he has been a Republican since he moved to Arizona. Gullett claimed to have been a registered Republican since the 1980s, but supported

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

's bid for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

; meanwhile, Greg Stanton won applause from the liberal-leaning audience when he responded, "I'm a Democrat and have always been a Democrat".
Wes Gullett promised visiting the top 25 businesses of the city within his first 100 days, whilst Greg Stanton pledged more accountability and transparency in government.

May 3 debate

Watchdog group Watchdog journalism is a form of investigative journalism where journalists, authors or publishers of a news publication fact-check and interview political and public figures to increase accountability in democratic governance systems. Role ...

Citizens for Phoenix held the third debate,5 Phoenix mayoral candidates debate – National News from USA Today and Gannett
/ref> this time with one additional candidate, Peggy Neely. The five squared off over

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

community policing Community policing is a philosophy and organizational strategy whereby law enforcement cooperates with community groups and citizens in producing safety and security. The theory underlying community policing is that it makes citizens more likely t ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

impact fees An impact fee is a fee that is imposed by a local government within the United States on a new or proposed development project to pay for all or a portion of the costs of providing public services to the new development.Juergensmeyer, Julian C., an ...

, tax incentives for economic development, and public arts funding.

Results

Threshold > 50% First ballot, August 30, 2011 Second ballot, November 8, 2011http://phoenix.gov/election/sumcw1111.pdf

References

External links

City of Phoenix Official Website – Election results

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110711095158/http://www.maricopagop.org/tag/2011-city-of-phoenix-elections-overview/ Maricopa County Republican Committee:Overview of Republican races.
Maricopa County Republican Committee:
Ongoing news articles. Candidate web sites
Wes Gullett

Greg Stanton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix Mayoral Election, 2011 2011 Arizona elections 2010s in Phoenix, Arizona Mayoral elections in Phoenix, Arizona 2011 United States mayoral elections