Warren Stewart Jr. spent last Saturday knocking on doors clad in a two-piece suit with a team of canvassers close behind wearing t-shirts bearing his name.
After canvassing, Stewart hosted his first campaign event, Win with Warren, a chance for members of the surrounding community to eat some snacks and talk face-to face-with Stewart. The event was at the house of one of his canvassers.
Stewart grew up in his father Warren Stewart Sr.’s First Institutional Baptist Church, located on Jefferson Street between 11th and 12th streets, and followed in his footsteps to become a pastor himself. He notes the similarities between being a pastor and a politician.
“You’re always in front of the people, you’re always serving in, you know, a smaller capacity than a politician,” Stewart Jr. said. “For me this is just a continuation of that, just a different sphere of influence, touching more people that may not have religious backgrounds, different faiths, no faiths. I’m not running as a pastor, I’m running as a councilman.”
Stewart is also an Arizona State University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.
The campaign staff is, as Stewart puts it, “very small.” Friends and family are helping out, just the way he likes it.
“It’s a staff that gets things done, let’s just say that.”
Stewart’s campaign treasurer Calicia White, who hosted the most recent campaign event at her house, said that Stewart has felt like a younger brother since she met him.
“I met Warren about four years ago, he was doing a presentation at the MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) Prayer Breakfast,” White said. “He was such a powerful and dynamic speaker.”
His campaign headquarters is Integrity Preparatory Academy, a private high school that aims to help students who have dropped out of high school get their GEDs.
In 2018, Phoenix saw 44 police shootings and Stewart plans to call for more accountability within the force, although he considers the problem “layered.”
“In these split second decisions, you could, if you have a lot of fear, you could fire off your gun or get killed,” he said. “These issues are multilayered we have to make sure that we’re not generalizing.”
Stewart is a supporter of Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams, who attended his father’s church growing up. The two have known each other since childhood.
Stewart and other community members supported Williams’ appointment as the first woman police chief in Phoenix history. Stewart still supports Williams as the chief, but believes there should be more accountability within the force.
He also started the Faith & Justice Project, which involves faith leaders from different churches around the valley. The project’s Facebook page says its goal is “to join church and community in a righteous response to systemic injustice.” The group goes out and prays in the neighborhoods that have been affected by crime.
“Literally every place that we held a prayer session crime was reduced,” Stewart said.
Stewart is vying for the District 8 seat, formerly held by current mayoral candidate Kate Gallego. It encompasses part of downtown along with south Phoenix, parts of Arcadia and the airport, curving along the 59th Avenue railroad.
Stewart plans to reshape those areas by creating more jobs, along with more walkable urban areas and social destinations.
“I want us to see the same resources that every other district gets,” he said.
As far as allocating those resources goes, Stewart is torn; he wants to see more economic opportunity in his district but also wants to make sure that the heritage of south Phoenix is preserved.
“I don’t want to see gentrification and displacement,” Stewart said. “What happens from all of this development is that the people who live here don’t benefit from it.”
However, Stewart and his team are in favor of the recently-passed Talking Stick Resort Arena renovation deal, as he believes that it will help the economic development of the city and his district.
According to Stewart, the biggest problem in the northern part of District 8, which includes downtown Phoenix, is homelessness.
“We have to humanize them first, treat them as human first. And ask them: ‘How can I help?’”
The election will take place on March 12. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the two who receive the most votes will face off in a runoff election.
Contact the reporter at nhthomps@asu.edu.
