Tempe Will Elect a Mayor And Three Councilmembers Tuesday

Here’s the lowdown on Tuesday’s election in Tempe. 

Tuesday is the last day for Tempe residents to cast their vote for mayor and to fill three City councilmember seats in Tuesday’s citywide election. 

All eligible voters should have received ballots in the mail in February. No in-person polling stations are open for this election.

The deadline to mail in a ballot has passed, but there are three locations open until 7 p.m. for people to either drop off ballots or request a new one:

• Pyle Adult Recreation Center, 655 E. Southern Ave., Tempe 
• Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, 510 S. Third Ave., Phoenix
• Maricopa County Recorder’s Southeast Mesa Office, 222 E. Javelina Ave., Mesa

The Tempe City Clerk’s Office told The Arizona Republic that 26% of ballots that had been mailed out had been returned as of Friday. 

Here are the candidates:

Mayor

Mark Mitchell, who currently serves as Mayor of Tempe, ran unopposed in 2016 and is seeking to keep his seat on the council. Mitchell served as a City Councilmember for 12 years before he was first elected Mayor in 2012. Tempe does not have a limit on how many terms someone can serve as mayor. 

Mitchell is being challenged this cycle by Corey Woods. If elected, Woods would be Tempe’s first black mayor. He served on the City Council from 2008 to 2016, when he chose to self-impose term limits and not run again. 

City Council

Five candidates are running to fill the three City councilmember positions available. Two of those seats are currently filled by Councilmembers Randy Keating and Joel Navarro, who are both seeking reelection.

The third open seat was left open after Councilmember Kolby Granville was voted out of office in April 2019 over sexual misconduct allegations. Arlene Chin, the director of scholarship advancement for the ASU Foundation, was appointed the following month to fill in for the rest of the term.

Keating, a community volunteer and small-business owner, was first elected to the Council in 2016. His website includes a list of all of the issues he has worked on while in office. 

Navarro, who also works as a firefighter for the Phoenix Fire Department, is running for his fourth term on the Council. His website includes a list of his accomplishments and priorities for the upcoming term. 

The two incumbents are joined on the ballot by three political newcomers: Casey Clowes, Doreen Garlid, and Marc Norman. 

Clowes is an attorney who has focused her campaign on sustainability, criminal justice, resources for families, and affordable housing. 

Garlid is the former business manager of Fox 10 and a member of the Navajo Nation. She has served on various boards and commissions, including as the president of two parent-teacher organizations, over three decades.

Norman is a local musician and advocate for arts education and affordable housing. 

Election results are expected to be posted starting at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The winners will be sworn in to their four-year terms in July.

Check out Copper Courier throughout the evening for your elections results.