Mayor of Phoenix Greg Stanton stepped down on Tuesday to officially begin his campaign for the congressional seat vacated by Kyrsten Sinema.
Greg Stanton has had an extended career in public service, starting as a Phoenix City Council member. He held the 6th district seat from 2000 to 2009 before campaigning for mayor in 2011. His mayoral term began in 2012 and Stanton has held office uninterrupted since then.
Stanton first announced his bid for Congress in fall, and multiple candidates, including council members Daniel Valenzuela and Kate Gallego have announced their bid for mayor. A special election will be held in November.
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Stanton inherited a host of problems upon taking office, ranging from weak public transit to the lingering effects of the subprime mortgage crisis.
“During his tenure, he has helped to increase access for communities in need, successfully diversified the local economy, navigated some hard times, championed causes promoting diversity, showed steady leadership, set tough and ambitious goals for the City, ushered in smart growth, and paved the way for innovation and creativity,” councilmember Laura Pastor wrote in a statement.
The now-former mayor also said he is pleased with the direction the city is going.
“From day one as mayor, the whole focus was fundamentally changing our economy. Less based on suburban sprawl real-estate, and more based on innovation and exporting. And that has been our north star. And we’ve done it. If you look at our economy right now, it’s going great; we have the highest wage growth of any big city in the country,” said former Mayor Stanton.
Local groups like the Downtown Voices Coalition have also played a role in influencing his policies.
“These are areas that the mayor has led in,” Tim Eigo, former president of the DVC, said. “Not only in downtown, but citywide. Region wide. And even occasionally, across the nation.”
Stanton’s leadership style is remembered by many to be a cooperative mix of forward-thinking social policy and pro-business economic strategy.
“His work to ensure Phoenicians have a voice determining the priorities the City Council pursues and making sure our city is accessible to all who live here have been unmatched. Thank you, Greg, for moving our city forward,” councilmember Daniel Valenzuela said in a written statement.
The former mayor’s bipartisan leadership style has many curious to see what he might be able to accomplish as a member of the House of Representatives.
“I would imagine success as a mayor looks much different than success as a congressman,” Eigo said. “If anybody’s going to make a positive change in D.C., in the House, it’s going to be Greg Stanton.”
Eigo praised Stanton’s for seeking out nonpartisan solutions in all circumstances, including “when he’s the most powerful guy at the table.”
It lends to Stanton’s favor in federal political office that Phoenix has a city government which relies heavily on the city council, as opposed to a system in which the mayor exercises executive authority like other cities in the country.
“It was not always easy, and we did not always agree on every issue, but there is no question that the City is in a better place than when he found it, and I’m proud of the time we were able to work together to see that done,” councilmember Laura Pastor wrote in a statement.
“I wish him the best as he moves on to different endeavors, and hope that in whatever capacity he ends up serving, he continues to put the interests of this City first and helps move our local economy in the right direction,” she added.
Contact the reporter at Dylan.Simard@asu.edu.
