By james art 
East Valley voters head to the polls Tuesday to choose who will lead their communities and determine the fate of ballot measures ranging from new community growth plans to significant increases in city spending.
2024 East Valley Elections include everything from mayoral races in Fountain Hills and Paradise Valley, where incumbents are challenging each other for the top spot, to a measure that would boost Gilbert’s purchasing power for the first time since 1998. this way.
The Arizona Republic broke down what’s on the ballot in every East Valley community. Our comprehensive voter guide has a full breakdown of all the candidates and what was at stake in each race.
Election 2024: View Arizona Election Results | Live coverage throughout Election Day
Chandler ticket: one open City Council seat
Chandler voters decide who fills the only seat on the City Council that was not filled in the July primary, when Vice Mayor O. D. Harris and political newcomer Jennifer Hawkins secured enough votes to avoid a runoff.
The two candidates vying for the remaining council seat are incumbent City Council member Christine Ellis and 20-year challenger Joseph Yang.
Ellis was first elected to the City Council in 2020. and is running for a second term. She is a native of Haiti who immigrated to the United States when she was 17 years old. She is a registered nurse who owns a home care business in the East Valley.
Young is a political newcomer who has served on numerous boards and organizations focused on public safety, including the Chandler Citizens’ Panel to Review Police Complaints and the Use of Force. He is also the CEO of a model car company called 153AZ that makes model police cars.
The race was low-key because both candidates are registered Republicans who generally hold similar positions on city issues. For voters, the race is largely about who they think can more effectively implement these policies.
Gilbert voters elect a new council member and decide on spending
Gilbert voters will also decide on a new city council member. The two candidates, Aaron Accurso and Kenny Buckland, qualified for the November runoff after neither won the seat outright in the August primary.
Accurso has lived in Gilbert for 17 years and is a devout Catholic. He works as a construction manager for a local pool company.
Buckland is a former commander of the Gilbert Police Department and retired from the city in 2016. He previously owned a small business and currently works as a sales director for a consulting company.
Gilbert’s City Council and its politics have caused a rift between elected officials and its residents over the past two years. This stems from infighting among the council members and the revelation of the Gilbert Goons, who are a gang of teenagers and young adults who engage in a series of random attacks.
The runoff between the two candidates remained civil and largely quiet.
The two racked up several different endorsements. Accurso received support from Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, state Senate President Warren Peterson and the Arizona Republican Freedom Caucus.
Buckland received support from Council members Jung Koprowski, Kathy Thielke and Maricopa County expert and former City Council member Eddie Cook. It also received an endorsement from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.
The city also took two proposals to voters related to spending.
Proposition 497 asked voters to approve a permanent adjustment to the state’s 1980 base spending limit. with $1.5 million. Gilbert last adjusted the spending cap in 1998.
Proposition 498 asked voters to exclude capital improvement projects from the spending limit, including streets, water and sewer infrastructure parks and all other capital projects.
Apathetic voters decide the fate of the master plan
Carefree has only one city-specific ballot item on today’s ticket, called Proposition 493. The measure gives voters the power to decide whether to approve an updated version of the city’s General Plan.
The plan is a long-term planning strategy that broadly sets out the community’s vision for future growth, its transportation network, parks, civic buildings, public art, environmental sustainability and economic development. State law requires cities to update the plan every decade.
One of the biggest changes in the city’s proposed Master Plan is a special planning area, or SPA, at both the northeast corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road and the northwest corner of Carefree Highway and Tom Darlington Drive.
The SPA would allow certain types of commercial development in those areas to help the city generate sales tax revenue ahead of an expected drop in cash flow. But it faces pushback from some residents and city council candidates who are concerned about preserving the area’s natural landscape.
Fountain Hills will elect a mayor and two council members
Fountain Hills voters will elect a mayor and choose between four City Council candidates vying for two open seats.
Incumbent Mayor Ginny Dickey is hoping to retain her seat against challenger and current City Council member Gerry Friedel. The latter is linked to a political action committee that helped the 2022 election. to become some of the nastiest and most incendiary in the city’s recent history, while the former was a primary target of this PAC.
Dickey was first elected mayor of Fountain Hills in 2018. Prior to her retirement, she was an Arizona Senate staffer, part-time teacher, accountant, school board member and assistant director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
Friedel’s career includes nearly 22 years as a loan officer and another 17 years as a financial planner.
The race for two vacant seats in the City Council is between three political newcomers and one incumbent. Specifically, council candidates include:
- Clayton Corey: He is a member of the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Directors of the Fountain Hills Sanitary District. Professionally, Corey works at CVS Health in IT Support Operations Management and Infrastructure Platform Engineering.
- Matthew Corrigan: His career was in sales, working as a small business owner and district sales manager. After retiring, Corrigan and his wife moved to Arizona.
- Peggy McMahon (Incumbent): She was elected to the Fountain Hills City Council in 2020. and is a current board member. Prior to her retirement, she had a 35-year career as a paralegal in the areas of estate planning and taxation, including work at the law firm of Snell & Wilmer and JPMorgan.
- Rick Watts: Watts and his family have been residents of Fountain Hills since the late 1980s. He is on the Fountain Hills Planning and Zoning Commission and a member of the Neighborhood Property Owners Association and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
Paradise Valley decides which council member will be promoted to the mayoral seat
Paradise Valley voters are electing one of two sitting City Council members as the community’s new mayor. The top vote-getter will lead the city on key issues ranging from regulating unruly short-term rentals to preserving quality of life for the next four years.
The contenders are Deputy Mayor Mark Stanton and City Council Member Anna Thomasson.
Stanton is the founder of a communications firm and president and CEO of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. He is currently serving his third term on the council.
Thomasson was elected to the council in 2019. and 2023 She had a 35-year career in corporate finance and human resources consulting at Fortune 500 companies.
The deadline to register to vote in order to participate in the election was October 7. Voters can check their status on the Maricopa County website. Those who choose to vote by mail can still drop off a ballot at a drop-off location or polling location until Nov. 5. Sections close at 7 p.m
The county election office doesn’t expect to have final unofficial results for at least 10 days, but will periodically update early results. The first batch is expected one hour after polling stations close.
This article will be updated as election results are released.