A record number of ballots were cast in last week’s runoff election for Phoenix mayor. On Wednesday, the City Council will officially declare Kate Gallego the winner over Daniel Valenzuela.
The unofficial results show Gallego received 106,216 votes (58.44 percent) while Valenzuela received 75,532 (41.56 percent). According to a city news release issued last week, the election was on track to be the highest number of ballots in a city-run mayoral election with approximately 180,000. The unofficial total shows 181,748 between Gallego and Valenzuela and ballot counting has been completed.
The council is also scheduled to take action on two more elections. A runoff election for Districts 5 and 8 will be declared for May 21. That’s when voters will choose among the top two vote getters from the March 12 election. In District 5, it will be Betty Guardado and Vania Guevara. In District 8, it will be Carlos Garcia and Mike Johnson.
The Phoenix City Council is also expected to call a special election for a pension initiativeto take place on Aug. 27. The initiative will appear on the same ballot as another initiative designed to stop future spending on light rail.
