By Scott Shumaker| Tribune
Three Mesa City Council seats are up for grabs in Tuesday’s Primary Election but voters will be deciding only two of them.
The third race already is resolved as the District 5 seat drew only one candidate, corporate lawyer and former Las Sendas HOA board member Alicia Goforth.
The deadline to mail in early ballots has passed, but voters can drop off their early ballot at any early voting location, any ballot drop box, or any Election Day voting location by 7 p.m. on Aug. 2. Vote Centers for in-person voting on Election Day are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit elections.maricopa.gov for locations.
In the other two districts, two candidates who started the election season looking like underdogs had made the races appear more competitive heading toward the finish.
To win outright and avoid a runoff in the Nov. 8 General Election, a candidate must garner at least 50% of the vote plus 1.
In District 4, two candidates, college student and disability advocate Nathaniel Ross and former governor’s office staffer Trista Guzman Glover are challenging the incumbent, downtown arts booster and business owner Vice Mayor Jenn Duff.
In District 6, business owner and volunteer Darla Trendler is vying with former Phoenix firefighter and former two-term council member Scott Somers.
The District 4 and District 6 races feature candidates who brought campaign cash carried from previous elections and many endorsements and donors lined up early on.
But over time, the two districts’ races appear to have become nailbiters.