PHOENIX (By Monica
Alonzo-Dunsmoor, Arizona Republic) September 14, 2005
- Council members ruled Election Night, with voters returning all four
incumbents to their seats.
Unofficial results show that voters re-elected Vice Mayor Mike Johnson and council members Peggy Neely, Tom Simplot and Greg Stanton. They also agreed to give the mayor and council a pay raise.
The incumbents said they believe that voters' approval is also a vote of support for their leadership and vision for the city. They all celebrated at Johnny's Uptown, a central Phoenix pub.
"I think that is a large vote of confidence that we're dong the right thing," Neely said. "I'm excited and honored to serve another four years."
Neely handily beat her challengers Andrι Campos and Mark Warren, with nearly 69 percent of support from District 2 voters. Although she was confident of a win, she didn't expect as large a margin over her challengers.
"I'm glad it happened," she said.
Stanton soundly beat his challenger, Warren Severin, with more than 85 percent of votes from District 6.
"Warren Severin ran a very classy race," he said. "This race was about the issues and the future of Phoenix and it shows that voters want a future with higher-paying jobs and a better educated workforce. I presented an optimistic view of the future of Phoenix and the people responded."
He attributes winning with the largest margin to "a true grass-roots campaign."
"We knocked on 12,000 doors and had hundreds of events and neighborhoods gathering," he said. "I put in the time and effort to ask people for their support."
Simplot pocketed about 64 percent of District 4 votes and easily edged out opponent Chad Campbell.
"It's so exciting to have a full four-year term to continue the projects that we've begun over the last two years," Simplot said. "I think it represents the hard work of my staff and demonstrates how closely we've worked with our neighborhoods."
In District 8, more than 70 percent of voters opted to keep Johnson, who left his competitors, Sylvia "Pinky" Moreno and Jarrett Maupin trailing far behind.
"I think that people can see the results of everything that's going on and the progress in District 8 during my time in office," Johnson said. "We've provided everyone a seat at the table."
More than half of Phoenix voters agreed to bump the mayor's annual salary to $88,000 from $62,800 and council members' salaries to $61,600 a year from $51,500.
The support comes despite millions of dollars in tough budget cuts that prompted city officials to close swimming pools earlier, raise library fees, scale back in park maintenance and cut funding for teen activities and workshops.
Voters also approved two changes to the city's charter. One names successors to the mayor for governing the city in his absence. The other drops a requirement for a specific half-inch space on the ballot for write-in candidates, opting for an "appropriate" space, or none if there aren't any write-in candidates.
Many of the votes cast came in long before Election Day. As of Tuesday morning, nearly 52,000 early ballots had been returned, said City Clerk Vicky Miel.
Of the early ballot returns, District 6 led the pack with 11,422 early ballots returned as of last Friday, Miel said. District 3 had the second-highest rate of return with 9,460.
Unofficial results show that voters re-elected Vice Mayor Mike Johnson and council members Peggy Neely, Tom Simplot and Greg Stanton. They also agreed to give the mayor and council a pay raise.
The incumbents said they believe that voters' approval is also a vote of support for their leadership and vision for the city. They all celebrated at Johnny's Uptown, a central Phoenix pub.
"I think that is a large vote of confidence that we're dong the right thing," Neely said. "I'm excited and honored to serve another four years."
Neely handily beat her challengers Andrι Campos and Mark Warren, with nearly 69 percent of support from District 2 voters. Although she was confident of a win, she didn't expect as large a margin over her challengers.
"I'm glad it happened," she said.
Stanton soundly beat his challenger, Warren Severin, with more than 85 percent of votes from District 6.
"Warren Severin ran a very classy race," he said. "This race was about the issues and the future of Phoenix and it shows that voters want a future with higher-paying jobs and a better educated workforce. I presented an optimistic view of the future of Phoenix and the people responded."
He attributes winning with the largest margin to "a true grass-roots campaign."
"We knocked on 12,000 doors and had hundreds of events and neighborhoods gathering," he said. "I put in the time and effort to ask people for their support."
Simplot pocketed about 64 percent of District 4 votes and easily edged out opponent Chad Campbell.
"It's so exciting to have a full four-year term to continue the projects that we've begun over the last two years," Simplot said. "I think it represents the hard work of my staff and demonstrates how closely we've worked with our neighborhoods."
In District 8, more than 70 percent of voters opted to keep Johnson, who left his competitors, Sylvia "Pinky" Moreno and Jarrett Maupin trailing far behind.
"I think that people can see the results of everything that's going on and the progress in District 8 during my time in office," Johnson said. "We've provided everyone a seat at the table."
More than half of Phoenix voters agreed to bump the mayor's annual salary to $88,000 from $62,800 and council members' salaries to $61,600 a year from $51,500.
The support comes despite millions of dollars in tough budget cuts that prompted city officials to close swimming pools earlier, raise library fees, scale back in park maintenance and cut funding for teen activities and workshops.
Voters also approved two changes to the city's charter. One names successors to the mayor for governing the city in his absence. The other drops a requirement for a specific half-inch space on the ballot for write-in candidates, opting for an "appropriate" space, or none if there aren't any write-in candidates.
Many of the votes cast came in long before Election Day. As of Tuesday morning, nearly 52,000 early ballots had been returned, said City Clerk Vicky Miel.
Of the early ballot returns, District 6 led the pack with 11,422 early ballots returned as of last Friday, Miel said. District 3 had the second-highest rate of return with 9,460.
