Gilbert’s Town Council race is close. Incumbent Yung Koprowski is maintaining a narrow lead over nine other candidates, with challengers Chuck Bongiovanni, Jim Torgeson and Bill Spence trailing closely behind. /Facebook
By Sam Kmack | Arizona Republic
More than 100 candidates are vying for city offices across metro Phoenix in Tuesday’s election and tallies for the first tranche of early ballots have been released, giving residents an indication of who might emerge victorious in their community when all is said and done.
Kevin Hartke has a massive lead over Ruth Jones in the Chandler’s first competitive mayoral race in 16 years, and the sitting mayor of Goodyear — who was appointed after longtime leader Georgia Lord died — has taken the lion’s share of votes in his race.
Front-runners in four other competitive mayoral races held clear leads in the early results, including Fountain Hills Mayor Ginny Dickey over former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Election coverage: Live updates across Arizona | Arizona election results
The early, unofficial results in competitive council races across 12 Valley cities also offer a glimpse into who might represent voters on issues such as road repair and transit, housing affordability, and the looming water shortage — which Valley officials have said can only be successfully tackled through a coordinated regional effort.
Some local candidates who receive the majority of votes in their races may win outright once all of the ballots are counted. Others are likely to head to a runoff between the top vote-getters in November.
Only three area cities didn’t hold elections this month: Phoenix and Tempe follow different voting cycles than other communities in the Valley, and Peoria rules required just one election in November.
