By Laura Gómez | Arizona Mirror
Union organizer Betty Guardado will be the new representative for District 5 in West Phoenix, unseating councilwoman Vania Guevara, and immigrant rights activist Carlos Garcia is poised to defeat former councilman Mike Johnson in District 8, according to preliminary election results.
Guardado has worked for 21 years with Unite Here, a union representing airport, hotel and food service workers. She led Guevara by more than 20 points. Guevara had worked as a District 5 staffer since 2012 under former councilman Daniel Valenzuela. She was appointed to the seat last year after Valenzuela resigned to run for mayor.
“I was striving to win big,” Guardado said Tuesday night, surrounded by family and supporters at a Señor Sushi restaurant in West Phoenix. “I’ve worked hard for every single thing I’ve had in my life. I feel great, humbled, honored to have the voters decide I was the person to represent them at City Hall.”
