Mesa was recently named Arizona’s best-run city and ranked among the top 10 best-run large cities in America. That recognition means a lot to us because it measures what residents expect and deserve: Getting real value for the dollars they entrust to their local government.

In Mesa, we make that our mission every day. 

Mesa consistently ranks among America’s safest large cities. We are recognized as one of the best places to live in the nation. Independent credit rating agencies give Mesa some of the strongest financial ratings available. Together, these rankings show that Mesa’s resident-first mindset brings tangible results to strengthen our community. 

That doesn’t happen by accident. 

For decades, Mesa has invested in public safety, reliable water service, streets, parks and libraries while maintaining one of the lowest tax burdens in Arizona — and doing so without a primary property tax. Over the past several years, we’ve cut more than $56 million from our municipal budget without affecting the services residents rely on every day.

Residents don’t experience fiscal responsibility through budgets and spreadsheets. They feel it when their neighborhoods are safe, water runs reliably from the tap, streets are maintained, parks are well-kept and first responders come quickly when they call 911. That’s what responsible financial management looks like in everyday life.

We’ve built some of the strongest reserves in the city’s history because we take a commonsense approach to stretching tax dollars. That preparation proved its worth recently when disruptions to state-level funding streams created real pressure on our budget. Because we had managed responsibly for years, we were able to navigate that uncertainty, and those reserves gave us the flexibility to respond intentionally rather than making dramatic cuts.

None of this happens in isolation. We heard clearly from residents that they wanted Mesa to remain financially strong while continuing to protect the services that make our community a great place to live. The City Council challenged staff to improve the City’s financial outlook more quickly and we responded. Working together, we strengthened Mesa’s financial position ahead of schedule while continuing to deliver the services residents rely on every day. 

Growth creates opportunity, but it also brings challenges. As Mesa continues to grow, so do the demands on the services residents depend on, from maintaining streets and water systems to ensuring police officers and firefighters have the resources they need. Meeting these needs requires the same principles that have guided Mesa for decades: finding new efficiencies, using innovation to tackle problems and maintaining an unrelenting focus on the people we serve.

Our employees remain committed to delivering the services our residents rely upon. This trust is earned through consistent performance and turning ideas into action. Mesa’s recognition as Arizona’s best-run city and one of the top 10 best-run cities in America reflects decades of hard work.

We appreciate the accolades, but there is much more to do. Mesa is focused on creating a strong, resilient and economically prosperous future by protecting taxpayer dollars, maintaining top-notch services and planning responsibly. 

Our city will continue to up our game and deliver the value Mesa residents expect and deserve. 

Scott Butler is the city manager of Mesa.

The post Making every taxpayer dollar count first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Key Points:

• Arizona’s largest cities show stagnant or declining population growth

• Phoenix adds just 3,157 new residents, a 0.2% growth rate

• Slower-growing cities may adopt “middle housing” to attract new residents

The state’s most populated cities are in no danger of losing their status — at least not immediately.

New figures from the Census Bureau show that population trends in the state’s largest cities have largely stalled or began to decline.

Last year’s census placed 1.66 million residents in Phoenix. This year, that same census added just 3,157 new residents to the city over the last 12 months, an anemic 0.2% growth.

Tucson fared even worse, with its 548,371 head count actually 2,262 less than the year before. In fact, since the decennial census in 2020, the state’s second largest city has added only 5,773 residents.

Similar patterns of slow — or negative — growth show up for Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler, the next largest cities according to the Census Bureau.

Meanwhile, the city of Surprise managed to increase its year-over-year population by more than 7,700, a 4.6% annual growth rate. And that places it just 15,000 less than Tempe with a 0.6% annual change.

And other communities on the fringes of urban areas grew even faster.

Leading the pack is Queen Creek, where 6,800 new residents boosted population by 8.2% in a single year. Goodyear grew by 6.5%, with Apache Junction up 5.8%.

There also are signs of growth farther outside the Phoenix metro area.

Some of that growth is likely attributable to people who work in and around Phoenix being willing to commute longer distances to find more affordable housing and communities to their liking.

Buckeye, toward the western edge of Maricopa County, grew by 5.5%. And the trend continues to spread deep into Pinal County, with Maricopa growing by 4.6%, followed by Coolidge at 4.2%, 3.8% in Casa Grande, 3.0% in Florence, and 2.3% in Eloy.

There also are some areas of growth in the rest of the state.

Marana posted a 5.7% growth rate by adding more than 3,500 residents in the one-year period, enough to make it the fourth fastest growing city in Arizona on a year-over-year basis. And Sahuarita, on the other edge of the Tucson area, posted a 1.3% gain.

At the other extreme, the population in the landlocked Paradise Valley dropped by 250 — a 2.0% decrease, the largest recorded on a percentage basis. Also at the top of the negative growth chart according to the Census Bureau are Patagonia, Guadalupe, Litchfield Park, Winkelman and Winslow.

The numbers are more than about bragging rights.

First, they show where people want to live, though the Census Bureau doesn’t get into the reasons, whether they be affordable housing, municipal amenities, or even climate.

But there are real fiscal implications.

Population growth means new housing. And that means sales taxes from construction activities and property taxes from homeowners.

More residents generally lead to more commercial centers and the sales and property taxes they generate.

But what’s also important is that cities also get shared revenues from the state that are largely dependent on population. And there’s a lot of money at stake.

It starts with what is known as “urban revenue sharing.”

That stems from a change in law in 1972 when voters approved a deal: cities would give up their right to levy their own income taxes in exchange for an 18% share of what the state collects. That annual figure, according to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, now tops $1.26 billion.

What makes that important is this is a fixed pot. And cities get a share based on their population.

Put another way, rapidly growing communities will get a bigger slice of the pie — whatever the size of the pie is that year — while those who don’t grow as fast or shrink end up with less.

Another $900 million comes from the share that cities get of state sales taxes.

Cities also get some of the vehicle license tax, based on a formula that includes both population and where vehicles are registered. That is about $327 million.

And another almost $499 million is divided up from the Highway User Revenue Fund, composed largely of gasoline taxes and other fees. Here, too, population is a factor as well as the county of origin of gasoline sales.

All that leaves it to the local officials of those slower-growing communities to decide what options they have or are willing to adopt to spur new residents.

One option already available to Arizona communities is so-called “middle housing.”

That allows — and in larger cities, requires — cities to take areas, particularly near central business districts that are zoned for single-family homes, and forcibly allow duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and townhomes. These can be less expensive and therefore more attractive to some would-be residents than locating in the far reaches of the suburbs and having to commute.

Closely related — and important for landlocked cities — is finding new ways to build residential structures. In Tempe, for example, that has taken the form of converting commercial areas into sites for mid-rise mixed-used development.

There are no Census Bureau figures for San Tan which was not officially incorporated until September 2025.

The post Arizona census shows metropolitan stagnation, suburban growth first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Key Points: 

• Arizona added nearly 100,000 residents in past year

• Mesa closing in on Tucson as second largest city

• Some freeway projects prompted by population growth

It probably comes as no surprise, but once again the fastest-growing communities in Arizona are on the far outskirts of the state’s two major metropolitan areas.

Yes, it is true that of the more than 97,000 people who decided to make Arizona their home in the year ending July 1, nearly one in eight landed in Phoenix.

That brought the city’s population to over 1.7 million according to new estimates by the Arizona Commerce Authority.

But it represented a year-over-year growth rate of less than 0.7% — much slower than the 1.3% average for the entire state.

By contrast, the 3,291 people moving into Apache Junction approached an 8% annual increase. And that was trailed — but only slightly — by Queen Creek at close to 7.7%.

At the other extreme of the Phoenix area, Maricopa grew by nearly 6.7%.

Some other Pinal County communities also beat the state’s growth rate, including Coolidge at 5.7%, Casa Grande at 5.3%, Florence up nearly 3.7% and Eloy growing by 2.8%

Also at the top of the growth chart are communities west of Phoenix, with Buckeye at 5.3%, Goodyear at 5.0%, and Surprise and Avondale at 4.2% and 4.0%, respectively.

In fact, both areas are growing so fast that state lawmakers have set aside millions of dollars to alleviate existing and potential future traffic jams for daily commuters.

That includes widening stretches of Interstate 10 that serve both areas, one north of Casa Grande and the other adding more lanes to the freeway going out to Buckeye. And an entirely new freeway — State Route 30 — is being planned parallel to I-10 to serve Buckeye, Goodyear and Avondale.

And what of the rest of the state?

It isn’t until you look at Marana that you see growth in southern Arizona, with nearly 4,000 new residents boosting the town by 6.3%. Sahaurita was further behind at 1.9%, though still besting the statewide average.

So where else has been growing in the past year?

The border community of San Luis added more than 2,000 people, enough to boost its population by 5.1%.

Prescott Valley, which years ago overtook Prescott, continued to grow its lead, boosting its population by another 2.2%, compared to less than 0.7% for Prescott.

Leading on the losing end were places like Bisbee, which saw its population shrink by 1.5%. Also at the top — or bottom, if you will — of the list of communities with negative numbers are Winslow, Springerville, Jerome, St. Johns, Page, Fredonia and Miami.

Beyond Phoenix among large cities, Tucson maintained its spot as the second largest, adding 682 people over the past year to bring its population to 557,901.

But Mesa is moving to catch up, with 4,499 new residents. That puts its population within 29,000 of Tucson.

Gilbert, which a decade ago was among the hottest growth cities, remains the fourth largest community in the state at 294,689 residents, though its growth rate has slowed to 0.9%. Chandler is not far behind at 288,299 residents, with its population increase also lagging the state rate at 0.7%.

And Scottsdale’s own growth is down to 0.4%, with the community now at 251,000.

Glendale, however, outpaced the state’s 1.3% growth rate, clocking in at 1.8% and boosting its population to more than 265,000. So did Peoria at 1.5%, now with 206,000 residents, and even land-locked Tempe, with 196,000 residents, after posting a 1.4% year-over-year increase.

Among the other communities outpacing the state’s 1.3% growth rate are Colorado City, Wickenburg, Snowflake, Thatcher, Douglas, Pima and Bullhead City.

City / July 1, 2025 population / Annual growth rate

Apache Junction / 44,934 / 8.0%

Avondale / 100,686 / 4.0%

Benson / 5,589 / 1.0%

Bisbee / 4,959 / (-1.5%)

Buckeye / 119,317 / 5.3%

Bullhead City / 44,277 / 1.6%

Camp Verde / 12,465 / 0.6%

Carefree / 3,752 / 0.4%

Casa Grande / 69,405 / 5.3%

Cave Creek / 5,324 / 1.2%

Chandler / 288,299 / 0.7%

Chino Valley / 13,890 / (-0.2%)

Clarkdale / 4,941 / (-0.5%)

Clifton / 3,901 / (-0.6%)

Colorado City / 3,512 / 5.0%

Coolidge / 20,027 / 5.7%

Cottonwood / 12,796 / 1.0%

Dewey-Humbolt / 4,613 / 0.6%

Douglas / 16,347 / 1.8%

Duncan / 701 / 1.3%

Eagar / 4,584 / <0.1%

El Mirage / 37,017 / 0.2%

Eloy / 19,531 / 2.8%

Flagstaff / 79,796 / (-1.5%)

Florence / 26,065 / 3.7%

Fountain Hills / 24,483 / 1.3%

Fredonia / 1,328 / (-1.0%)

Gila Bend / 1,898 / 0.2%

Gilbert / 294,689 / 0.9%

Glendale / 265,599 / 1.8%

Globe / 7,212 / 0.7%

Goodyear / 122,569 / 5.0%

Guadalupe / 5,327 / 0%

Hayden / 505 / (-0.8%)

Holbook / 4,935 / 0.7%

Huachuca City / 1,616 / (-0.7%)

Jerome / 454 / (-1.1%)

Kearny / 1,756 / <0.1%)

Kingman / 36,080 / 1.2%

Lake Havasu City / 59,752 / 0.4%

Litchfield Park / 7,018 / <0.1%

Mammoth / 1,078 / 0

Marana / 66,735 / 6.3%

Maricopa / 78,194 / 6.7%

Mesa / 529,391 / 0.9%

Miami / 1,517 / (-0.8%)

Nogales / 19,994 (-<0.1%)

Oro Valley / 48,967 / (-0.4%)

Page / 7,404 / (1.0%)

Paradise Valley / 12,774 / (-<0.1%)

Parker / 3,508 / 0.6%

Patagonia / 796 / (-0.5%)

Payson / 16,723 / (-0.1%)

Peoria / 206,063 / 1.5%

Phoenix / 1,709,489 / 0.7%

Pima / 3,196 / 1.8%

Pinetop-Lakeside / 4,189 / 0.2%

Prescott / 48,403 / 0.7%

Prescott Valley / 52,682 / 2.2%

Quartzsite / 2,468 / 0.9%

Queen Creek / 88,050 / 7.7%

Safford / 10,329 / 0.7%

Sahaurita / 38,421 / 1.9%

St. Johns / 3,395 / (-1.1%)

San Luis / 41,409 / 5.1%

Scottsdale / 251,000 / 0.4%

Sedona / 9,735 / (-0.4%)

Show Low / 12,647 / 0.9%

Somerton / 14,793 / 0.3%

South Tucson / 4,535 / (-0.7%)

Springerville / 1,711 / (-1.1%)

Star Valley / 2,545 / (-0.1%)

Superior / 2,470 / 0

Surprise / 172,943 / 4.2%

Taylor / 4,468 / 0.6%

Tempe / 196,001 / 1.3%

Thatcher / 5,700 / 2.0%

Tolleson / 8,689 / 0.7%

Tombstone / 1,408 / 0.1%

Tucson / 557,901 / 0.1%

Tusayan / 594 / (-0.8%)

Wellton. 2,653 / 1.0%

Wickenburg / 8,647 / 2.3%

Willcox / 3,255 / (-0.5%)

Winkelman / 290 / (-0.7%)

Winslow / 8658 / (-1.2%)

Youngtown / 7,233 / 1.0%

Yuma / 104,263 / 1.5%

Statewide / 7,718,747 / 1.3%

Source: Arizona Commerce Authority

The post Several Valley cities grew faster than Phoenix, report shows first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to include information about Ryan Winkle’s 2017 drunken driving arrest and subsequent dismissal from the Mesa City Council. 

The Arizona Legislative District 9 Democrats chose three candidates Monday night to potentially fill the Senate seat vacated by former Sen. Eva Burch, who resigned on March 14.

Ryan Winkle, Laura Metcalfe and Kiana Sears all received the most votes as the nominees to replace Burch. Now it’s up to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appoint one to the legislature.

Winkle is currently the executive director at the Arizona Fair Housing Center. He is also a former Mesa City Council member and mayoral candidate who lost in the election primary last year. The Mesa City Council booted Winkle from the council in August 2017, just a few months after a drunken driving arrest. 

During his speech to the committee, Winkle described his policy as “people first” and touted his work to bolster small businesses and affordable housing in the community.

“We all know that things are confusing right now, everyone’s angry, everyone’s doing crazy things, but of all things, what we want to do is fill this seat with somebody that’s going to represent people,” he said.

Metcalfe is an adjunct professor, experienced school administrator and former teacher who lost the election for Maricopa County School Superintendent to Republican Shelli Boggs last fall. She currently serves as a governing board member for the East Valley Institute of Technology.

Metcalfe would use her experience running campaigns and her decades of education experience to improve teacher retention and pay, as well as tackle housing affordability, she said.

“I understand … the affordability crisis faced by Arizonans right now and wholeheartedly support policies that will build a more affordable Arizona for education,” she said.

Kiana Sears served on the Mesa Public Schools governing board for eight years before her term expired in December. Sears ran for justice of the peace for the North Mesa Justice Court last year, losing the race to Republican Kyle Jones.

Sears is currently the assistant director of Faith Based Outreach and Community Partnerships at Arizona State University. 

“When it comes to water rights, when it comes to clean energy, when it comes to the political process, when it comes to standing up, I’m a person who won’t back down,” Sears said.

She advocated working with Democrats to take a “policy-driven” approach at the legislature.

“There’s legislation that we won’t be able to put forward, but we can stop bad policies,” she said.

The post Mesa Democrats choose three candidates for former Sen. Eva Burch’s replacement first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, has resigned from the Arizona Senate, citing concerns about legislator pay and accomplishing her goals as a member of the minority party.

Burch represented Legislative District 9, which mostly spans west Mesa and a portion of Tempe in one of the most highly-competitive districts in the state. She was first elected in 2022 and won her reelection in November, defeating Republican Robert Scantlebury both times.

Burch is the first lawmaker to resign this session. Her last day is March 14.

Burch campaigned on a platform prioritizing health care access and affordability, and gained national attention for pushing for the repeal of the state’s 1864 abortion ban. Last year on the Senate floor, she told of her own non-viable pregnancy and her plan to seek an abortion.

She also prioritized public education funding, affordable housing and reigning in the Empowerment Scholarship Account program by way of an enrollment cap.

In a statement announcing her resignation, Burch touted her accomplishments in working collaboratively to make health care more accessible and affordable, improve funding for fire districts, extend housing affordability and uplift public education.

However, Burch didn’t believe she was in the best position to work on issues she cared about the most and get the results she desired, she said.

“I think that it’s very difficult in the minority to have your bills, get a committee hearing your bills, heard on the floor and I know that for someone like me, I am more likely to be able to work on bills that are successful outside of my position as a senator and I’m ready to do that,” Burch said.

She also said the low pay for legislators contributed heavily to her decision to resign. If the legislature wants to recruit “good people” to serve as lawmakers, then it needs to focus on creating a living wage, she said.

“As far as I can tell, it is absolutely impossible for somebody who is trying to work and raise a family to make ends meet with what we (get) paid as legislators,” said Burch, a nurse practitioner. “I have tried so hard to find a balance. We sold our house and downsized. I changed jobs. I did everything that I could.”

Since Legislative District 9 is a competitive district, Burch knows there may be some uncertainty with keeping a Democrat senator in that district. But she’s confident that a viable candidate will emerge.

“I would not have made the decision to step down if I didn’t feel really good about who we have in LD 9 that will be interested in fulfilling the role,” she said.

Burch has no immediate plans but hasn’t ruled out a future run for office. But she knows there are plenty of opportunities available to her even if it’s not in politics.

“I think it’s important for me to take some time to reflect on what I’ve done here and to consider what my options will be in the future,” she said. “The only thing I can tell you for certain is that Arizona has not seen the last of me. There is more work to be done, and I intend to do it.”

The post Sen. Eva Burch of Mesa has resigned, citing concerns over pay and productivity first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

WASHINGTON – Fear for his undocumented parents haunted Mario Montoya throughout his childhood in Mesa. Sometimes it turned to outright terror, like the time his mom got into a car crash.

“One of my first thoughts was … what if the police asked for her immigration status?” said Montoya, 26, who now studies law in Seattle. “What if I don’t see her again?”

His parents finally received legal status a few months ago, 11 years after President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, lifted the risk of deportation from their son.

Nationwide, 22 million people live in mixed-status households, including over half a million in Arizona, according to estimates from FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group. In these homes, anxiety never goes away – and the actual risk of deportation can hinge on elections.

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to launch “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country,” and to eventually round up and expel everyone living in the country illegally – a population pegged at 11 million in 2022 in an April report from the Department of Homeland Security.

Deportation on that scale would impact another 11 million Americans who live with those undocumented immigrants – children, siblings and parents.

Asked last month during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona whether he would deport undocumented immigrants with a child or spouse who is an American citizen, Trump told NBC News that “provisions will be made, but we have to get the criminals out.”

Montoya calls the plan “inhumane” and worries that Trump would be able to deliver on promises if he wins again. “He’s going to be more prepared than he was last term to try to enforce what he wants,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to ramp up border security – a nod to concerns that illegal crossings hit record levels under President Joe Biden.

At a rally in Glendale on Aug. 9, Harris told the crowd that her vision for immigration reform “includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”

She’s vowed to sign the bipartisan border bill that Trump helped to quash in May.

That bill would have added $20 billion to the Homeland Security budget, made it harder to request and receive asylum, and let authorities shut the border when illegal crossings spiked.

It offered no special protection for undocumented immigrants. Nor did it extend the DACA program that helped Montoya and hundreds of thousands of others brought into the country illegally as children.

“At the moment, I don’t really have faith in any party when it comes to immigration rights,” said
Kevin Carreño Wissar, 21, a Glendale Community College student born in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Wissar said he came to the United States at age 6. He’ll be eligible to apply for a green card next year – lawful residency – after a decade of waiting.

“In my ideal world, I would just want there to be a way for anybody here that is considered undocumented to have an actual pathway to citizenship,” he said.

It’s not the only looming concern for mixed-status families in Arizona.

Republicans in the Legislature put a measure called Proposition 314 on the November ballot that would make it a state crime to cross the border illegally. If approved, police could arrest anyone who can’t prove U.S. citizenship or legal residency and state courts could order deportations. Federal courts have blocked similar laws in Texas and other states.

Immigrant advocates point to Trump’s record as president as evidence he would pursue harsh policies if reelected.

Under a “zero tolerance” policy that began in summer 2018, federal authorities separated 5,000 children from their parents. Visa denials skyrocketed under his administration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump used an emergency public health authority known as Title 42 to order mass expulsions and turn away asylum seekers.

If Harris wins, “we don’t expect that any of those ridiculous things would happen,” said Yunuen Trujillo, a managing attorney at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. “Based on what (Trump) did in the past also meant that if there was a denial, even if it was for a ridiculous reason, you know that that person could be transferred to ICE for deportation proceedings.”

Lynn Marcus, director of the immigration law clinic at the University of Arizona law school, agreed that Harris would “seek to avoid family separation since she’s emphasized keeping families together.”

“Trump’s position has always been that the rule of law is paramount and to him that means rounding up and deporting everyone who is deportable without regard to individual circumstances or ties to U.S. citizens,” she said.

Undocumented adults have few options to seek naturalization without leaving the country.

“There’s a huge risk that if you leave the country you’ll lose your job, be stranded abroad, run out of money, be at risk from violence from cartels,” Marcus said. It’s “a significant impediment to people who could otherwise qualify to get a green card.”

Apart from military families, parole in place – remaining legally in the U.S. while awaiting naturalization – is generally not an option.

Biden’s Keeping Families Together initiative, unveiled last month, would extend parole in place to an estimated 500,000 undocumented spouses and 50,000 undocumented stepchildren of U.S. citizens. A federal judge in Texas temporarily halted the policy late last month.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the people targeted by the new policy have lived in the U.S. for an average of 23 years.

“One of the biggest myths is that if (an undocumented) person is married to a U.S. citizen, it’s a defense against deportation or they can apply for a green card and get one,” Marcus said.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

The post Half-million mixed-status families in Arizona will face vastly different realities under Trump or Harris immigration policies first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times.

The race for the Legislative District 9 Senate seat is a rematch between former police officer Robert Scantlebury, a Republican, and incumbent Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, but  a GOP consultant said the competitive district will favor the Democrat candidate who garnered national attention during the recent legislative session. 

Burch, a newcomer at the time, defeated her Republican challenger in 2022. Scantlebury, a former Mesa police officer, lost by more than 3,000 votes.

His bid for the seat comes on heels of a legislative session where Burch garnered national attention for sharing her experience with needing an abortion due to a nonviable pregnancy. 

Burch played a key role during the 2024 legislative session in the Democrats’ effort to repeal the state’s near-total ban on abortion that would become state law after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Roe v. Wade was no longer valid. 

Burch is a nurse who has focused on health care related issues since taking office, and said her experience as a nurse has highlighted issues that are close to her. 

If she is re-elected to the Senate, Burch said one of the first bills she plans to reintroduce would be one to lower the cost of prescription medications for Arizonans, widening the scope to include those who are not Medicare patients. 

“Health care expenses are certainly high on the list of what people are paying for that keep them from being able to meet the needs of their families,” Burch said. 

She said health care affordability is part of the bigger issue of the cost of living in Arizona. Housing cost is another high priority issue in her district, which covers much of east and central Mesa, and finding permanent solutions will require bipartisanship, she said. 

“There’s never going to be a bill that specifies everyone and all the stakeholders, so if we want to get them (housing-related bills) across the finish line, we need to have the right leadership in place in the House and the Senate that will not obstruct the legislation for arbitrary reasons,” Burch said. 

Reigning in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program would be another step to take to improve Arizona’s economy, Burch said. An enrollment cap — with some exceptions — would help balance the state’s budget and allow more spending in public education, she said. 

As the incumbent prepares for her general election rematch with Scantlebury, her image has become closely tied to the pro-choice movement, particularly through her backing of the proposed Arizona Abortion Access Act, which seeks to legalize abortions up to fetal viability in most cases. 

After making national headlines for sharing her abortion story on the Senate floor, Burch said she is feeling “even more passionate” as she knocks on doors and hears from constituents who share similar experiences. 

However, she warned that voter approval of the pro-abortion proposition in November should not be the only thing motivating Arizonans at the ballot box. 

“I can’t stress enough how important it is that we have pro-choice candidates in the Legislature, and we have pro-choice judges, because the constitutional amendment is not going to be the end of the story in Arizona,” Burch said. 

On the other hand, Scantlebury’s campaign has focused on border security, public safety, school choice and lowering the cost of living. The Republican candidate has taken a similar approach in this campaign as he did two years ago. 

When it comes to housing affordability, Scantlebury wants to remove regulatory guardrails for homeowners, according to his campaign website. 

“Neighborhoods are often harmed by the presence of AirBnBs or homes that are converted to businesses,” Scantlebury’s campaign website reads. “With the right regulatory and economic policies, we will put ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren in a better position to succeed.”

Scantlebury had the endorsement of current U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake during the 2022 election cycle, and has the backing of the Homebuilder’s Association and the Mesa Police Association. 

His bid to unseat Burch has brought in $10,000 in donations from the Freedom Club Political Action Committee, but his on-hand balance is slim in comparison to the incumbent. Scantlebury had $29,931 on hand, as of pre-primary campaign finance reports, while Burch held a significant lead with $130,081 on hand. 

GOP consultant Chuck Coughlin said Scantlebury’s luck in the race is slim to none. “It’s not possible,” he said, noting that the competitive district has turned even more blue since the 2022 election cycle. 

Coughlin said the presidential election will increase turnout from young voters, further stacking the odds against Scantlebury in the district that favors Democrat candidates by 2.6%, according to the Independent Redistricting Commission. 

Though the district is considered highly competitive, Scantlebury does not have the same appeal that a more moderate GOP candidate could, he said. 

“I think the people representing that district right now are reflective of what that district is,” Coughlin said. “Republicans keep running MAGA-esque candidates that can’t appeal to that district, I just don’t see it.” 

Scantlebury did not respond to multiple requests from the Arizona Capitol Times for an interview prior to deadline.

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