Council races heating up as early voting begins

Jul. 4—Early voting for the Aug. 2 Primary Election begins Thursday, July 6, and endorsements in the Mesa City Council races are stirring things up.

People have only until Tuesday to register for the election and can do so at BeBallotReady.Vote or by calling the Maricopa County Elections Department at 602-506-1511.

The election assures at least two new faces on City Council as two of the three seats are currently occupied by members who are termed out. District 5 Councilman David Luna and District 6 Councilman Kevin Thompson were not eligible to run again.

Luna's successor is already a virtual certainty because Alicia Goforth has no opposition.

In District 4, incumbent Vice Mayor Jenn Duff is seeking a second term while facing two challengers, on the council against two challengers who are newcomers to the local political scene — Trista Guzman Glover, 33, and Nathaniel Ross, 21.

In District 6, Scott Somers, a Phoenix firefighter who served on City Council for eight years before he was termed out in 2014. He's facing a challenge from businesswoman Darla Trendler.

A candidate needs more than 50% of the votes cast to win a seat Aug. 2. If no candidate passes that mark, the top two vote getters will face off in the General Election Nov. 8.

Mesa City Council races are nonpartisan, meaning party affiliations are not listed on the ballot.

Below is a summary of how the races are shaping up so far, including information on endorsements and candidates' positions based on their answers to a questionnaire sent out by the Tribune in May.

District 4

In District 4, incumbent Jenn Duff faces two opponents, Trista Guzman Glover, 33, and Nathaniel Ross, 21, who are both young and looking to serve in elected office for the first time.

Second quarter fundraising reports will not be released until after July 15, but in the first quarter, Duff enjoyed a large advantage in campaign cash.

Duff has also picked up several endorsements: IAFF Local 2260 Mesa fire fighters' union, Mesa Mayor John Giles, current council members Francisco Heredia, Julie Spilsbury and David Luna, and LGBTQ+ rights group Equality Arizona, among others.

Candidate Trista Guzman Glover, a former staffer of Gov. Doug Ducey, picked up an endorsement from the Mesa Chamber of Commerce on May 31, and the candidate's website recently added an endorsement from the Mesa Police Association.

The Mesa Chamber's endorsement was significant because it gave Guzman Glover her first.

In a May release, the Chamber said its Good Governance Committee interviewed all of the candidates before recommending endorsements to the Chamber board of directors.

"The committee based their recommendations on how well candidates aligned with Mesa Chamber positions and their ability to represent the business community on the Mesa City Council," the release stated.

Chamber President/CEO Sally Harrison did not respond to a request for more information on specific policies or positions that weighed on its endorsement in the District 4 race.

Duff has voted with the rest of the council on nearly every issue that has come up. One notable exception was her no vote on approving a development agreement for a massive data center with Facebook parent company Meta in May 2021.

Duff said at the time that the number of permanent jobs created by the project would not justify the amount of water required by the project, up to 4 million gallons of water per day.

The candidate doubled down on this position in her responses and first column for the Tribune.

"As a City, we should not approve massive water users/developments that jeopardize or have major impacts on our potable water supply," Duff wrote. "We need to marry economic development decisions with the realities of our water supply to sustain our quality of life in the desert."

In her response to the Tribune's question about considering water on development projects, Guzman Glover's position on considering water in approving new developments was: "Mesa has been a great steward of its conservatorship. It is important for the city to engage stakeholders on any future developments."

On the issue of water, Ross wrote, "we must be proactive in how we manage our water resources. Primarily, we must balance the water usage by new commercial developments while understanding the growing needs of residential development."

Ross has not reported any endorsements as of press time.

Duff is president and owner of Jef International Inc, a sport fishing tackle import/export company. She spent six years on the board of directors of the i.d.e.a. Museum. She has also served on the Planning and Zoning Board and co-founded the Retail, Arts, Innovation and Livability (R.A.I.L) Community Development Corporation.

Guzman Glover holds degrees in political science and public administration from Arizona State University. She is a Flinn-Brown Fellow with the non-partisan Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, a program that works to increase the number of Arizonans involved in civic life.

Mesa native and disability advocate Nathaniel Ross is finishing the last year of his bachelor's degree at ASU. He has completed fellowships with the Arizona Hispanic Bar Association: Los Abogados and the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation. He co-founded a support group with his family for people dealing with Eosinophilic Disorders, called Eos Fighter Connection.

District 5

Alicia Goforth has experience as a corporate lawyer and in the past three years has served on the Las Sendas HOA's board of directors as secretary and vice president.

In her responses to the Tribune's questionnaire, Goforth wrote that one of the biggest challenges facing the district was to "ensure that we have the highest quality development that will be long-lasting and an asset to the community."

On the issue of water and development, Goforth wrote, "water management is essential for smart development. The city must be a leader when it comes to securing our future water supplies and ensuring that we can support our residents for decades to come."

District 6

The race in District 6 is a matchup between a candidate with successful two-terms on city council and an opponent who's never served in public office.

Both are leaning into their respective backgrounds to argue that they are the best person to represent the residents of District 6: former council member Scott Somers as the experienced insider and Darla Trendler, the outsider with a fresh perspective.

The candidates have touched on similar themes in describing the challenges facing the district and their visions for its future.

In responses to the Tribune, both candidates cited District 6's rapid development as the biggest challenge.

"District 6 is growing rapidly," Trendler wrote. "We must meet this challenge by ensuring growth happens in a way that is sustainable and makes sense economically but also protects what makes our community special."

Somers agreed, writing that "managing fast-paced growth" was the district's biggest challenge, noting that roughly half of Mesa's growth is happening in District 6.

As a council member between 2006 and 2014, Somers worked on many of the projects that have underpinned District 6's growth, including initiatives like the extension of Ray Road and the creation of the Elliot Road Tech Corridor.

On the biggest challenge facing the city as a whole in the next four years, both candidates also seemed to agree on the idea of maintaining and building on Mesa's recent economic gains.

Somers wrote that the city's "challenge is keeping Mesa competitive in the rapidly evolving technology and innovation economy."

He wants to return to council to "ensure that our city is fiscally responsible, focused on attracting jobs and business investment, and remains a great place to raise a family."

Trendler also promises to focus on economic development.

"To ensure Mesa's growth enriches our City, we must focus on infrastructure, infill projects, new development and voter-approved bonds to keep up with our growth and continue the great way of life we enjoy," Trendler wrote.

The starkest contrast between the candidates appears to be in their resumes, a distinction the candidates occasionally reference pointedly.

"I am the only candidate with experience in economic development," Somers wrote in the Tribune.

In a recent interview with the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Somers also explicitly referenced his relationships with major developers like Harvard Investments and Eastmark creator DMB to say he could achieve results.

But Trendler does not shy away from citing her experience as a "wife, mother, small business owner" as assets, noting that "real life experience" in budgeting, solving problems and building relationships would benefit the council.

"I haven't been on council in the past. I can look at issues Mesa is facing from the perspective of an everyday citizen, not a political insider," her website states. "No favors owed: My loyalty is with my neighbors, the people of District 6."

Somers appears to lead the endorsement race. So far, they include United Mesa Fire Fighters, Mesa Police Association, Mesa Chamber of Commerce, District 6 council member Kevin Thompson, Mesa Public Schools Governing Board President Jenny Richardson and former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith.

The public officials endorsing Trendler's campaign so far are Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board President Lori Wood and former Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels.