Phoenix City Councilmember Debra Stark will keep her seat and Yassamin Ansari will be the city’s newest council member if early results from Tuesday’s election hold.

Stark has a wide lead over competitor Nicole Garcia in District 3, and Ansari has a wide lead over Cinthia Estela in District 7 as the vote count continues.

The winner in District 7 will replace outgoing Councilmember Michael Nowakowski, who is term limited.

Stark and Ansari called their races and celebrated their wins on Tuesday night — Stark from home and Ansari from an event with supporters at a bar in downtown Phoenix.

Stark thanked voters and said she considered it validation for her first term.

“I want to make sure I do a great second term for voters,” she said. “I know I will make decisions that some people don’t like, but I always look collectively for the district and the city.”

She said she feels good about running a clean campaign that stuck to policy issues.

Ansari thanked her parents and her campaign volunteers at her event at Gracie’s Tax Bar in downtown Phoenix.

“I am most excited I think to really just change what it means to be a member of the City Council,” Ansari told The Arizona Republic. “I think that it’s time that we bring it into the 21st century.”

The new council terms begin in April.

The city already has counted ballots cast by mail and in person at vote centers, but continues to count ballots dropped off at vote centers on Tuesday, provisional ballots and ballots with signatures requiring further scrutiny.

The city expects to finish counting ballots by Friday.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the last day of in-person voting.

The city received 40,865 ballots in the mail by Monday, according to the City Clerk’s Office. On Saturday and Monday, the only two days of early in-person voting, voters cast 267 ballots at vote centers. There are about 203,900 registered voters in the two districts.

Runoff races bring controversies, special interests

This is the city’s runoff for the Nov. 3 election, which was considered a primary election for the city spots.

In November, voters reelected Mayor Kate Gallego and District 5 Councilmember Betty Guardado, and chose Ann O’Brien as a new council member in District 1.

No candidate for District 3 or District 7 in November got more than 50% of the votes, which was required to avoid the March runoff. Districts 2, 4 and 6 were not on the ballot in November.

The council elections are nonpartisan, but the candidates have made their political tendencies clear during their campaigns, and those who are elected may soon help the council decide highly politicized issues such as police accountability.

In Goodyear:  Special election day: Last day to drop off ballots

District 3 — Garcia and Stark

In District 3, voters were deciding whether to keep Stark, who has served the district since 2016 and is known as a more moderate voice on the council, or elect Garcia, a newcomer to the state’s political scene with far-right views.

Stark is completing her first term on the City Council, after being appointed to the seat in 2016 and then elected in 2017. She has lived in Phoenix for 42 years — 32 of those in the district.

During her campaign, she pledged to continue working for her constituents on issues such as job growth, economic revitalization and cutting wasteful spending.

Among her priorities, she said, are “trying to seek solutions for addressing the issues of people experiencing homelessness and developing a comprehensive street safety plan.”

“Given the number of pedestrian and vehicular fatalities we have seen in the city of Phoenix in the past couple of years, we need to develop a plan,” she said.

Stark’s campaign raised significantly more than Garcia’s. 

Stark’s campaign had raised $315,224 by Feb. 20 and Garcia’s had raised $12,630, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Garcia had said her priorities would be “uplifting small businesses, supporting safe communities and fiscal accountability.”

While she offered little information about her past, Garcia made a name for herself on Twitter as being one of the most radical candidates the city has seen, according to several prominent city political observers, including some Republicans.

District 7 — Ansari and Estela

Both District 7 candidates are Democrats, but Ansari and Estela would move their district and the city forward in much different ways.

Ansari, who has Gallego’s endorsement, would bring a solid progressive majority to the council.

She acknowledged as much to supporters on Tuesday night, saying she is “so excited for a progressive majority on the council.”

Ansari has said if she is elected she would prioritize addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, passing climate reform policies, advocating for affordable housing, and investing in safer neighborhoods.

She said Tuesday she hopes to pass a climate action plan and increase accountability in the Police Department. Ansari said she will be a transparent and approachable council member.

She said she was overwhelmed and relieved to see her supporters turn out during this election.

“Everyone kept telling me we were going to win and we were going to win with a wide margin just based on the work in the field,” Ansari said. “But you just never know.”

Gallego, who was at Ansari’s event, said she was looking forward to serving with her.

“She’s very hardworking and committed to this city,” Gallego said. “She’ll really hit the ground running.”

At Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix, Estela thanked her supporters, children, campaign and mother for their hard work, sleepless nights and missed birthday parties.

“We all made a difference regardless of the results,” she said. “I know we’re going to stick together.”

Estela said her campaign couldn’t raise the money needed to win.

Ansari raised $689,475 and Estela raised $304,268 by Feb. 20, according to the latest campaign finance reports. 

The competition for the seat became heated in recent weeks, with opponents calling into question the candidates’ backgrounds. Outside interests and dark money groups attempted to influence voters by sending political mailers and canvassing.

Despite her disappointment, Estela vowed to continue fighting for the community.

“I’m going to keep doing what I’ve always done for my community,” Estela told The Republic.

Reach the reporters at [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow them on Twitter at @jenafifield, @megataros and @NicoleSadek.

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