In the midst of celebrating its 75th anniversary, Scottsdale is wrapping perhaps its roughest, harshly-battled, “nastiest” election.
Based on unofficial results of the July 21 primary, Councilwoman Solange Whitehead successfully defended her seat with an outright win.
A late-night July 22 release from Maricopa County Elections stated 99% of the ballots county-wide were counted. Whitehead had 17.5% of Scottsdale’s votes – comfortably above the 16.7% needed for an outright win.
The unofficial results show two other seats will be decided in a November runoff featuring: Councilman Barry Graham, like Whitehead running for reelection; former Councilman Bob Littlefield; former state representative Michelle Ugenti-Rita; and Raoul Zubia, who failed in his first City Council bid.
Newcomer Ethan Knowlden was just behind Zubia. Crystal Carrol, an Old Town cafe owner, captured just 7% of the votes to come in a distant seventh, ahead of Eric Sloan’s 5% finish.
According to the county, as of the morning of July 23, 5,912 uncounted votes remain county-wide. The Progress did not receive a response regarding how many of those are from Scottsdale residents.
After holding back for several counts, Whitehead announced her victory – “I’m calling it!” – on social media the night of July 22.
“I feel great,” Whitehead told the Progress the following morning.
“I’m very grateful,” she added.
Though she can stop campaigning for herself, Whitehead said with a sigh, “There’s a lot of work to do.”
Whitehead had a huge lead in the first two counts, then survived the late-count declines she expected to end up above the 16.7% threshold for a win.
She breathed a sigh of relief at not having to continue in this attack-heavy campaign.
“I would argue this was the nastiest campaign in the city’s history,” Whitehead said.
“I have some ideas on how to turn that around,” she added.
Scottsdale elections are “non-partisan,” which does not stop the two main parties from boosting their favored candidates.
Early vote counts in Scottsdale are typically more Democratic-heavy, with Republican votes coming in heavy on election day.
As such, Graham – endorsed by several Republican groups, in contrast to the Democratic-endorsed Whitehead – said he was not worried when the first count showed him in a distant fourth, trailing Zubia.
Graham, Ugenti-Rita and Bob Littlefield campaigned as an unofficial group. The three wrote a letter to the Axon board of directors stating “we are deeply concerned about what appears to be direct intervention by senior company executives in the 2026 Scottsdale City Council election.”
Over the last month of the campaign, Graham continued to insist – without proof – that Axon and its executives were behind attack ads targeting him as punishment for opposing the Taser-maker’s development plan.
Led by Axon lobbyist Chris Baker and former Axon spokesman David Leibowitz, the Better Together political action committee used $330,000 from the national super PAC National Horizon to attack Graham, Ugenti-Rita and Bob Littlefield.
In turn funded by makeup magnate Ronald Lauder, National Horizon tosses money at conservative causes – yet the three Scottsdale candidates targeted by Better Together ran as conservatives.
Graham continuously stated he, Bob Littlefield and Ugenti-Rita were targeted because they led the fight against the Taser-maker’s planned apartment development in North Scottsdale.
“Axon apartment developers are bragging they can simply buy the City Council and force the company’s high-density agenda on our city,” Graham posted, as the polls opened.
“They clearly have no respect for the power of Scottsdale residents.”
Whitehead, considered one of the most liberal members of City Council, received advertising support – unasked for, she stressed – from Better Together.
Though Better Together battered the conservative trio with signs and online advertising, Whitehead has no sympathy for Graham, Ugenti-Rita and Littlefield. The “three conservatives” often teamed up to mock her about recycled water and her support of Axon during the campaign.
“It was pretty nasty,” Whitehead said. “But everything my opponents said about me wasn’t true – so it wouldn’t bother me.”
‘Bloc II’?
Graham is trying to maintain the “conservative bloc” that overturned the city’s sustainability plan, toppled its DEI policy and reversed a planned roundabout – just to name a few of the muscular moves by Graham, Jan Dubauskas, Adam Kwasman and Kathy Littlefield. The latter, who is Bob’s wife, terms out at the end of this year.
Whitehead spent the last year-and-a-half vainly battling the bloc.
Mayor Lisa Borowsky has been intensely critical of Graham and his council cohorts.
General election voters will decide if the mayor will continue to battle a “Bloc II.”
Bob Littlefield will attempt to take the baton from his wife. He failed in runs for mayor in 2020 and 2016, also losing a 2014 campaign as a state representative.
Bob Littlefield had much better luck in Scottsdale City Council elections, winning in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Ugenti-Rita also is attempting to bounce back from recent election losses.
In 2024, she was trounced in the Republican primary by Thomas Galvin in a bid for his Maricopa County Board of Supervisors seat.
In 2022, Ugenti-Rita was a distant fourth in the Republican primary for Arizona Secretary of State.
Like Bob Littlefield, Ugenti-Rita had plenty of success at lower level elections. She spent a decade as a state legislator, first as a representative (2013-19), then as a state senator (2019-23).
Facing the three who received Republican endorsements will be Zubia, endorsed by Scottsdale Democratic groups.
In the 2022 Scottsdale primary, Zubia was a distant sixth of seven City Council candidates.
Zubia previously failed in a City Council run, but looks stronger this time around.
Zubia ran on his roots, billing himself as “a lifelong resident of South Scottsdale and a proud graduate of Coronado High School.
After advancing in the primary, Zubia told the Progress, “I’m always proud when I see our city voting and taking part in the democratic process.
“I appreciate the poll workers who made this a seamless experience for everyone. We are still awaiting more results and feeling optimistic.”
Knowlden, a newcomer to Scottsdale and politics, narrowly missed making the runoff.
Election Day
The two Scottsdale representatives gunning for reelection were up early on Primary Day.
“I woke up at 5:30, as usual,” Graham said.
He took the day off from his accounting job, dropped his twin boys at summer camp and hit the polling places.
“The day was great,” he said. “I spent over 10 hours at the Indian Bend Wash (election site). Got to meet a lot of voters. There was a steady flow the whole day.”
Whitehead was up and at it even earlier.
“I get up at 4:30 to 5 every day to go biking,” she said.
On Primary Day, she was at the Florence Ely Nelson Desert Park Recreational Center on Pinnacle Peak Road by 6:30, setting up signs and a table.
“I spent the morning at Pinnacle Peak, met some really nice people,” she said. “Then I went to Via Linda (Senior Center), but it seemed like mostly drop offs there. Most people that came said they voted for me,” Whitehead added with a chuckle.
She then went to the Indian Bend Wash site, where Graham was also working the crowd. “I saw Barry – but he was under a tent, so I didn’t wave at him,” she said.
Whitehead did run into Ugenti-Rita and “hung out with her.”
After battling fiercely at campaign forums, were they cordial?
“Of course,” Whitehead said. “I don’t let silly things like ‘Sewage Solange’ nicknames get me down,” the councilwoman said, referencing Ugenti-Rita’s attacks on Whitehead’s advocacy of recycled water.
Whitehead left the polling place shortly before live voting closed, returning to her house to set up for an Election Night party.
After tearing down his booth and cleaning up after voting ended, Graham went to Joe Chaplik’s watch party in the Scottsdale Airpark area. Chaplik’s run for Congress was not going well, with former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely running away with the CD-1 race.
“There was disappointment for Chaplik’s result,” Graham said, “but also excitement for other races.”
Like his own.
At the home of Graham’s archenemy, Whitehead’s husband helped entertain a dozen campaign volunteers as the clock ticked down to the county’s eagerly-awaited “first drop.”
When the clock struck 8, “My phone was blowing up,” Whitehead said.
The two-term councilwoman who also rallied support for various city initiatives said she was not surprised to be in first place after the early count.
“I think I know my community pretty well,” Whitehead said. “I don’t do any polling, I just felt here we go again, we’re going to win another initiative.
“It’s easier to win when you’re right,” Whitehead said, “and it’s easier when you’re aligned with your community.”
Graham would agree with that view – though he feels his conservative views are far more in tune with Scottsdale than the liberal-leaning Whitehead’s.
Graham, known to associates as “B.G.,” received a text suggesting several songs representing election-night finishes. They ranged from “Election Night Fever” to “Tragedy.”
On this night, it was “Stayin’ Alive.”
Graham checked his phone at 8 p.m., scanning the Scottsdale City Council first-release results with a nod.
“Considering the composition of the first drop, I was feeling good,” Graham said. He noted Scottsdale’s early election results “skew heavily D.”
While Democrats often mail in votes early in the cycle, Republicans often prefer to vote in person – which are the last votes tabulated by Maricopa County.
Though he was trailing the leaders, Graham felt his position near the top of the pack was promising, factoring in “the amount of attacks my campaign has withstood from special interests, dark money.
“We felt that was a pretty solid starting point.”
He headed to his Old Town home, checked on the kids, “Saw the second drop then went to sleep.”
When he woke up Wednesday morning, Graham immediately checked his phone for election updates, seeing the 3:05 a.m. release by the county vaulted him up on the leaderboard.
“I was pleased with the trend line of that,” Graham said, mid-day on Wednesday.
“We feel good. It’s a campaign that has taken record attacks,” Graham said.
“We always thought the race was going to be tight – competitive,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Whitehead’s Wednesday morning kicked off with the news that her lead dwindled after the 3 a.m. vote release.
She said she was not surprised by the “dip … we knew that would happen.”
Early results
The 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, release by the Maricopa County Elections Department showed Whitehead surging to the lead with 18.4% of the first 46,209 ballots counted.
Then came five candidates in the 13-14% range after the first count.
Whitehead was followed closely by Ugenti-Rita and Zubia, each hovering around 14%. Graham, 13.83%, and Ethan Knowlden, 13.72%, were next, followed by Bob Littlefield, 13.21%.
Crystal Carrol, at 7.35%, and Eric Sloan, 5.34%, trailed the pack.
As the county’s fine print notes, “Results are not official until they are canvassed. The official canvass and results files will be posted here once finalized and approved.”
Vote counties will be updated daily “until all ballots have been tabulated,” according to the county’s website.
The county has more than 2.5 million registered voters – with 168,455 living in Scottsdale. Primary voter turnout is usually in the 30-40% range, though this is an unusually divisive campaign that could bring out more than normal.
Low turnout
According to the county, 60,037 ballots were cast in Scottsdale, with a voter participation “turnout” or 36%.
In the 2024 Scottsdale primary, with three mayoral candidates narrowed to two finalists and nine candidates on the ballot for three City Council positions, 64,017 turned in ballots – with 154,409 total votes in the council race.
In the 2022 Scottsdale primary, which narrowed down a field of six for three City Council positions, 73,446 cast ballots – with 170,708 votes counted.
The 2020 Scottsdale primary, with five candidates for mayor and nine candidates for three City Council seats, 74,438 voters participated. In the council race, 184,910 votes were counted.
According to Maricopa County’s election website, Scottsdale has 168,455 registered voters.
Of those, 69,459 are registered as Republicans.
Another 40,718 are registered as Democrats – but that’s not the second-largest group.
Scottsdale’s “independents” total 55,581.
State battles
Several Scottsdale figures had starring roles during the primary.
Scottsdale voters helped narrow down the candidates for the U.S. House Arizona District 1 seat. District 1 starts in south Scottsdale, continuing north to the county line and east to Fountain Hills and beyond.
Republican David Schweikert, the incumbent, is bypassing a reelection run to make a bid for governor.
In the U.S. District 1 Democratic primary, voters chose Amish Shah (39%) over Marlene Galán-Woods (34%), with Rick McCartney and Jonathan Treble trailing.
Republicans chose former Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely for District 1. Splitting the uprights with 50% of the votes, Feely overwhelmed Joseph Chaplik (36%) and John Trobough (14%).
Trobough and Chaplik both run Scottsdale businesses.
As a state representative last year, Chaplik loudly battled Axon’s lobbying at the state legislatures last year. He failed, as “the Axon bill” allowing the Taser-maker’s North Scottsdale development passed and was later signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Hobbs was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
In the Republican gubernatorial primary, Schweikert’s hopes were crushed by Andy Biggs, who celebrated winning 71% of the Republican votes with a party in Scottsdale.
In the secretary of state race, incumbent Adrian Fontes was the only name on Democratic ballots.
Scottsdale’s Alexander Kolodin – another vocal opponent of Axon’s development when he was an LD3 representative – will face off against Fontes in November. In the Republican primary, Kolodin scored an impressive 61% of the votes, trouncing Gina Swoboda.
LD3
Arizona District 3 includes Anthem, Cave Creek, Carefree and North Scottsdale.
In the battle for two Arizona House of Representatives District 3 seats, Julie Gable and Richard Spargo were the only Democratic candidates for two positions. They will advance out of the primary and be on the November ballot.
Those two will face George Khalaf (34%) and Cody Reim (27%), the top two finishers from a Republican field that included Jay Schlum (26%) and Thomas Walsh (13%).
Khalaf is a Scottsdale resident who runs First Day Public Relations. He ran on an unofficial ticket with Reim, who battled then-Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega over water for Reim’s Rio Verde Foothills. Reim was appointed when Chaplik resigned from LD3 to run for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.
In the Republican primary for Arizona State Senate District 3, incumbent John Kavanagh dominated, winning 85% of the votes over challenger Robert Wallace.
Kavanagh will face the lone Democrat in the primary, Jeff Fortney.
Kavanagh and Wallace live in Fountain Hills. Fortney is a Cave Creek resident.
LD4
Arizona District 4 includes much of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.
LD4’s senator since 2024 is Carine Werner – who is also a member of the Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board.Werner is not running for reelection to the school board but is defending her state senator seat.
With no Republican primary opponent, she sails to the November election against the lone Democrat in the primary, Aaron Lieberman, a Paradise Valley entrepreneur.
Lieberman is a former state representative who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022.
Tammy Caputi, who failed in a Scottsdale City Council reelection bid in 2024, is running again – for the Arizona House of Representatives.
Caputi and Karen Gresham were the only Democrats on the July 21 ballot.
Those two will have a hill to climb to try to unseat Republican incumbents Matt Gress (45%) and Pamela Carter (34%), who cruised to victory in the Republican primary over Sandra Christensen (21%).
Carter was trounced by Barry Graham in a Scottsdale City Council in 2022 before landing a state seat two years later.
Scottsdale City Council unofficial results:
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*Solange Whitehead, 28,228 votes, 17.5%;
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+Michelle Ugenti-Rita, 24,137 votes, 14.96%;
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+Barry Graham, 23,476 votes, 14.55%;
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+Bob Littlefield, 22,012 votes, 13.64%;
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+Raoul Zubia, 21,820 votes, 13.52%;
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Ethan Knowlden, 21,236 votes, 13.16%;
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Crystal Carroll, 11,758 votes, 7.29%;
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Eric Sloan, 8,668 votes, 5.37%.
*Outright winner.
+Qualifies for November runoff.