Scottsdale Mayor Ortega admits defeat, voters dismiss incumbents

Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega conceded defeat to challenger and former city council member Lisa Borowsky.

Ortega’s fate was sealed after more ballots were counted late Wednesday evening and Bourne’s lead showed no sign of diminishing.

Scottsdale voters also planned to oust two incumbent council members in a conservative revolt by candidates who opposed the status quo at City Hall.

Scottsdale voters also strongly supported two local measures, a parking tax and a spending cap increase.

In the mayoral dispute, both candidates have been highly critical of each other’s leadership in a heated race that has seen clashes in 2024. But Ortega struck a more generous tone.

“It has been an honor to serve the residents of Scottsdale as mayor. This was a hard-fought election campaign, and although I failed to be re-elected, I thank every single voter, volunteer and friend for their support. I congratulate the mayor.” “Vote for Borowsky for her victory,” Ortega’s email said Wednesday evening.

“Ahe and I have disagreed on many issues throughout this campaign, but I recognize her commitment to the residents of Scottsdale and wish her success,” Ortega added.

Borowsky did not respond to The Arizona Republic’s requests for comment.

In the City Council contest for two open seats, challengers Adam Kwasman and Maryann McAllen had a slight lead over incumbent Tammy Caputi, who placed third. Councilman Tom Durham, who suddenly dropped out of the race late in the campaign to support Caputi and McAllen, who were a distant fourth place.

McAllen, a political newcomer, told The Republic via text message: “I am excited and encouraged by the results to date and look forward to the honor of serving Scottsdale for the next four years.”

Caputi did not want to comment on the results until they were final.

Election results in Arizona are unofficial until local and state officials count all ballots and certify the results. The counting of ballot papers continues.

Maricopa County had counted more than 1.5 million ballots as of Thursday morning, according to county election officials. They estimate total voter turnout at about 2.1 million and estimate that about 600,000 ballots still need to be counted. Uncounted ballots include those mailed in or cast in the days before Election Day, provisional ballots and those that require processing, meaning election officials must match signatures.

In Arizona, voters can cast early ballots at the polls on Election Day, and those ballots must still be processed and verified before they can be counted. Full, unofficial results are currently expected between November 15th and 18th. Races may be called earlier depending on margins and the number of primaries still to be counted.

We will continue to monitor results as they come in. Check back for updates on the remaining races.

Scottsdale voters will decide the fate of two ballot initiatives. Both were well on their way to approval.

Proposition 490, a sales tax measure, received an overwhelming majority of yes votes in early votes. Proposition 491, a measure to increase Scottsdale’s annual spending cap, secured an even larger majority of yes votes.

Election 2024: See Arizona election results

Durham urged voters in September not to vote for him, instead urging them to vote for Caputi and McAllen, warning that Kwasman would “jeopardize the future” of the city.

Durham’s surprise announcement IIt ties directly into the core issue dominating Scottsdale’s candidate elections this year: a battle between one opposing group of candidates and everyone else for control of City Hall.

The opposition slate now includes Kwasman and Borowsky, two particularly conservative candidates who are more critical of Scottsdale’s leadership for alleged fiscal irresponsibility and overdevelopment. They often talk about reducing what they see as wasteful spending and, if elected, would likely work to scale back many existing city initiatives.

Based on the current makeup of the City Council, Ortega’s concession to Borowsky ensures that opposition candidates will have a majority on the new City Council.

And if Thursday morning’s trend continues, the opposition is well on its way to securing a strong supermajority on the council.

Kwasman said the initial results were “very surprising. Not what anyone expected,” especially when it came to Ortega coming up short. He described the 2024 election cycle in Scottsdale as “an anti-incumbency year.”

Durham shared Kwasman’s surprise at the result, marking one of the few instances of agreement between the two in the entire election cycle.

“I thought (Caputi) would come out stronger… I expected her to be the top vote-getter. But I also think it’s the kind of Republican wave,” said Durham, who also supported McAllen when he dropped out of the race. “There was also a lot of negative campaigning…It looks like that damaged her.”

As for the mayoral race, Durham said he expects Ortega will get more of Linda Milhaven’s share of the primary vote. Milhaven was the third mayoral candidate to receive no votes in the July primary, but she and Ortega are generally more similar to Borowsky than either.

However, the unofficial election results had a silver lining for Durham. He noted that the city’s two ballot measures received overwhelming support, saying that “both are much more important than any particular person’s membership on the City Council.” I’m very happy about that.”

The two Scottsdale-specific ballot measures on this year’s ballot are expected to have a significant impact on the city’s future. Here’s a more detailed breakdown of what both would do if approved by voters:

Proposition 490 would establish a 0.15% sales tax for 30 years, which would generate $1.2 billion for preservation of the city’s parks and the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. It was at the center of a legal battle between the city and the Goldwater Institute over how Scottsdale priced the proposal.
Proposition 491 would increase a state-set spending cap for the city by $271 million to avoid cuts to city services in the coming years. This allows the city to spend more of the money it already has. So the measure would neither increase taxes nor allow Scottsdale to spend more revenue than it takes in.

This article will be updated once the election results are available.

Reporter Sam Kmack covers Tempe, Scottsdale and Chandler. Follow him on X @KmackSam or reach him at [email protected].

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