Facebook Kate Gallego
By Jen Fifield, Lorraine Longhi,Alison Steinbach | Arizona Republic
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego was decisively reelected on Tuesday, while two other Valley cities will see new mayors.
Brigette Peterson will lead Gilbert and David Ortega will lead Scottsdale if early results hold.
The mayors will lead their communities at a time of ongoing public health crisis. Gallego on Tuesday night said that COVID-19 was top of mind for voters.
“Tonight was a big night for candidates who took public health seriously,” she said.
Gallego has pushed for more testing and other health precautions, such as mask wearing in public.
Gilbert and Scottsdale, both communities of more than 250,000 residents, have rescinded or let expire local mask mandates put in place during Arizona’s surge of cases in June. Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, who was unable to run again because of term limits, took heat from local business leaders for ending the city’s mask mandate in September.
