Unofficial Results: City Hall Outsiders Betty Guardado, Carlos Garcia Win Phoenix City Council Seats

Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 8:31pm
Updated: Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 4:45pm
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
Carlos Garcia.
Brent Whiting
Betty Guardado

The unofficial election results in Phoenix show Betty Guardado and Carlos Garcia winning City Council seats.

In District 5, which covers much of west Phoenix, Guardado captured more than 62 percent of the vote in the race against Vania Guevara who was appointed to temporarily fill the seat. Guardado is a leader for labor unions representing hospitality workers.

She has talked a lot about how her union work would make her a good councilmember — that she’s been an organizer, negotiated contracts and helped improve people’s lives. Throughout the campaign, Guardado has also focused on public safety — not just having more police officers but parks where families feel comfortable, roads that are in good shape and adequate lighting in neighborhoods.

District 8 includes parts of east Phoenix, downtown, south Phoenix and Laveen. That’s where Carlos Garcia has claimed victory over former council member and retired police officer Mike Johnson by fewer than 400 votes. Garcia campaigned on more police oversight and accountability and transparency at Phoenix City Hall. In a statement released after the latest election results, Garcia said:

"Phoenix is in a time of growth and innovation but without the involvement and inclusion of long-time Phoenicians we are at risk of leaving behind the working families who have built and grown Phoenix for generations. I look forward to collaborating with the community and my fellows on the council to prioritize people in Phoenix and not the private interests that risk the well-being of our friends and families in District 8.”

The clerk’s office says about 60 ballots need to be counted which include provisional ballots and some in question that may not be valid. The next expected update of voting results will be on May 24.

As of 5 p.m. May 22, the unofficial results from the Phoenix City Clerk Department for the Districts 5 and 8 runoff election are:

District 5 Unofficial Results

Betty Guardado: 7,412 — 62.51 percent

Vania Guevara: 4,446 — 37.49 percent

District 8 Unofficial Results

Carlos Garcia: 6,711 — 51.48 percent

Michael Johnson: 6,326 — 48.52 percent

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