Ortega concedes; Lisa Borowsky is Scottsdale's next mayor

Nov. 7—Even with thousands of votes to count, Mayor David Ortega seemed to concede a loss to challenger Lisa Borowsky early Wednesday morning.

"Congratulations to Ms. Borowsky, the 13th mayor of Scottsdale," Ortega said, in an email to the Progress.

But, when asked for clarification, Ortega said he was not conceding: "We have to wait until all votes are counted on my race."

Wednesday evening, after another release of votes showing Ortega trailing by more than 7%, the mayor made it official, sending out an email titled "Mayor David Ortega Statement Concession 2024 Election."

His brief statement:

"It has been my honor to serve the residents of Scottsdale as mayor. This was a hard fought campaign, and although my re-election fell short, I thank each and every voter, volunteer, and friend for their support. I congratulate mayor-elect Borowsky for her win.

"She and I disagreed strongly about many issues during this campaign, but I recognize her commitment to the residents of Scottsdale and wish her success."

With the first 117,267 ballots counted, Borowsky was leading Ortega 53.7% to 46.3%.

"Scottsdale residents have spoken," Borowsky said, after Ortega's concession, "Our message of vision-based planning, budget discipline and resident-first engagement resonated widely with Scottsdale voters who came out to support me in this election."

She thanked her supporters, calling her campaign "a grassroots effort by the residents of Scottsdale for the betterment of our community.

"I look forward to serving you as mayor and honoring the beauty and uniqueness of our city," she concluded.

"I am excited to get to work."

Ortega met with supporters at a private event in Old Town.

"Scottsdale's high turnout is exceptional and I am thankful for the results thus far," he said late Tuesday night. "Looks like my race is a cliffhanger."

According to City Clerk Ben Lane, Scottsdale has 172,583 registered voters.

Meanwhile, Adam Kwasman and Maryann McAllen held early leads in the four-way race for two City Council seats.

Wednesday evening's unofficial results showed Kwasman taking the lead, with 29.54%, followed by McAllen, 29.52%, Caputi, 27.3% and Durham, 13.6%.

Early counting showed 59.1% support for Proposition 490, with 40.9% opposed.

Proposition 491 would allow an increase in the city's spending limit. The city requests a $22 million "permanent adjustment to the state-imposed base expenditure limitation."

Support for Proposition 491 was 66.73% on the first count, with 33.27% opposed.

City props

Scottsdale voters were deciding on two city propositions.

Proposition 490, if passed, will create — not "reduce and replace," as the city originally worded it before a court challenge required last-minute wording change — a 0.15% sales tax for 30 years, to support the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and city parks.

The current sales tax rate of 0.20% expires June 30, 2025.

The proposed sales tax rate of 0.15% would go into effect July 1, 2025 — if approved by voters.

The first ballot count showed 60.81% support for Proposition 490, with 39.19% opposed.

Proposition 491 would allow an increase in the city's spending limit. The city requests a $22 million "permanent adjustment to the state-imposed base expenditure limitation."

Support for Proposition 491 was 68.11% on the first count, with 31.89% opposed.

Six candidates — Jeanne Beasley, Drew Hassler, Gretchen Jacobs, Donna Lewis, Matt Pittinsky and Mike Sharkey — are battling for three Scottsdale Unified School District seats.

By Wednesday morning's third release, Lewis was in the lead, at 19.44%, followed by Pittinsky, 18.47%, Sharkey, 18.31%, Beasley, 15.21%, Jacobs, 14.86% and Hassler, 13.71%.Tuesday evening's first count showed Lewis in the lead, at 19.87%, followed by Pittinsky, 18.92%, Sharkey, 18.71%, Beasley, 14.73%, Jacobs, 14.52% and Hassler, 13.26%.

The six formed two de facto teams.

Jacobs, Beasley and Hassler are running as "JBH" — with the slogan "Just Be Honest."

Sharkey, Lewis and Pittinsky go by the alliance "SLP."

Though the school board race is "nonpartisan," the JBH trio received financial backing from conservative groups and endorsements from local Republican organizations — with the SLP three receiving funding from liberal/progressive groups and endorsements from local Democratic organizations.

County, state races

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has all five seats up for election.

In the Republican primary for District 2, which includes Scottsdale, incumbent Thomas Galvin handily topped Michelle Ugenti-Rita 57.16% to 42.84%.

Julie Cieniawski, a member of the SUSD Governing Board, was the only Democrat candidate in District 2.

After the first count of the General Election, Galvin was in the lead, with 56.01%, ahead of Cieniawski's 43.99%.

LD4

Carine Werner, who has often traded barbs with Cieniawski at SUSD meetings, won the Republican primary for the Senate District 4 nomination, which includes part of Scottsdale.

School board members are permitted to have other elected positions.

After the first count of the General Election, Werner, with 47.89%, was trailing Democrat Christine Marsh's 52.11%.

Republican Matt Gress — who clashed with Mayor David Ortega over Scottsdale's use of a hotel to house homeless people — is running for reelection to represent District 4, which includes most of Scottsdale.

Democrat Laura Terech, who holds the other District 4 House of Representatives seat, did not file for reelection.

Republican Pamela Carter, who unsuccessfully ran for Scottsdale City Council in 2022, is on the ballot for District 4 representative, as are Democrats Karen Gresham and Kellli Butler.

The first count on Election Day showed Butler leading, with 26.08%, followed by Gresham, 25.37%, Gress, 25.21% and Carter, 23.34%.

LD 3

Parts of North Scottsdale are included in District 3, where Republican John Kavanagh is the incumbent senator and Republicans Alexander Kolodin and Joseph Chaplik the representatives; all are up for reelection.

Richard Corles is the lone Democrat on the ballot for representative of District 3.

Kavanagh was a walk-in winner, facing no challengers for his seat.

In the race for two representative seats, Chaplik was leading on the General Election's first count, with 38.09%, followed by Kolodin, 36.2%, and Corles, 25.71%.

Primary results

The city of Scottsdale held a Primary Election on Tuesday, July 30.

The race for Scottsdale mayor became a runoff between Borowsky and Ortega.

Former three-term councilwoman Linda Milhaven looked to be a strong candidate, but took only 12,462 (20.58%) votes.

With 24,596 votes (40.61%), Ortega was well ahead of Borowsky's 23,439 (38.7%).

In the City Council Primary race for three seats, Dubauskas scored enough 27,717 votes (17.97%) — more than enough to be elected outright at the primary and take office in January.

The next four Council candidates with the highest number of votes advanced to the General Election.

Caputi just missed an outright election in the Primary, winning 24,320 votes (15.77%).

Kwasman was close behind her, with 22,952 votes (14.88%).

McAllen was next with 18,898 votes (12.25%).

With18,440 votes (11.96%), Durham barely qualified for the General Election, edging Robert Lettieri's 15,823 votes (10.26%).

In addition to Lettieri, brash newcomer Mason Gates (12,350 votes, 8.01%), military veteran and political rookie Stephen Casares (7,057 votes, 4.58%) and fellow political greenhorn Justin Laos (6,492 votes, 4.21%) were eliminated.

There was no primary for the SUSD Governing Board, with each candidate who filed the requisite number of signatures making the November ballot.

Final numbers may take a while

As across the rest of the county, state and country, a phrase is ringing through Scottsdale:

"Too close to call."

According to election officials, it could take up to two weeks for final voting counts to be released.

Voting at polling places ended at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5.

But ...

"Lines are starting to form — there's lots of excitement," Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said, at a briefing an hour before "closing time."

"If you are in line by 7 p.m., you will be able to vote," Fontes stressed.

Indeed, long lines were reported at some polls, including the Indian Bend Visitor's Center in Scottsdale, where some five dozen patiently waited for their turn to vote in the closing hour.

Keeping with tradition, the Maricopa County Elections Department released its "first drop" of election results at just after 8 p.m.

"This is our early bucket," Fontes said.

Those who vote on Election Day were to have votes counted after 8 p.m, throughout the night, Fontes explained.

Another "bucket" of votes will take longer to count.

"We expect official results to be prepared in 10 to 13 days," Fontes said.

Even as polls closed, counting was just beginning.

According to City Clerk Ben Lane, Scottsdale has 172,583 registered voters.

The city's election website (scottsdale.vote) showed, as of Nov. 4, 163,729 voters requested early ballots — and 124,775 voted early. That means 76% of those who requested early ballots turned them in before Election Day — and 72% of Scottsdale's registered voters turned in ballots early.

At 8:02 p.m., the county's "first drop was released."

County officials say just under 94,000 Scottsdale ballots — 55% of the total possible — were included in the first count.