Griswold, Smith head to runoff for Mesa mayor

Two Mesa businessmen will face off for the city’s top elected position in a May 20 runoff, boosted by a primary that attracted historically high voter interest.

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Rex Griswold and Scott Smith garnered enough votes to edge out Claudia Walters, a two-term City Council member who was looking to lengthen her tenure in Mesa politics.

City Clerk Linda Crocker said election officials hoped to have final results later this week. Still to be counted were an unknown number of provisional ballots and early ballots that were handed in on Tuesday.

The unofficial results show that 30 percent more Mesa voters participated in this primary than the 2004 primary.

Instant silence met the first results at Walter’s election night party. With about 20 supporters, including Mayor Keno Hawker by her side, Walters watched the mayoral seat slip away on a friend’s tiny kitchen television screen.

“We gave it a great shot,” Walters assured her husband. “I have no regrets.”

Walters said she doesn’t understand what change Smith would bring to the city.

“You’re going to have a middle-aged male business owner leading the city. I’m confused about what the change is,” she  said.

Meanwhile, at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa hotel, Smith supporters applauded when the results appeared on a big screen.

“This is a nice feeling,” Smith said.

He promised a specific plan of action called “Building a Better Mesa,” an answer to criticism that he has been long on speeches about change but short on details.

“We have the most horrendous challenges and problems you can think of,” he said. “But on the other hand, we also have tremendous opportunities.”

And Smith said he would be tapping Mesa’s “human resources,” people with experience and expertise to help solve community problems.

Griswold’s election party cheered as the first returns popped up on a big screen television, and it looked as if he was among the top two vote getters.

Griswold said that between the votes he received and the ones that Walters received he could do well in a runoff.

“I’m very pleased that 60 percent of the people wanted experience,” he said.

Hawker said he was disappointed by the outcome.

“I think the citizens didn’t select the best quality candidate,” he said. “Claudia would have been prepared the best.”

Hawker added that he is still waiting to hear some concrete ideas from Griswold and Smith.

“I’d really like to hear their platform, if they have one,” he said.

Walters, 54, has served nearly eight years on the council and has worked on strengthening neighborhoods and developed expertise on the  topics of water, roads and infrastructure.

Throughout her campaign, Walters had touted her experience on the council, multiple regional and national boards and the Mesa school board.

After the results, Walters said she’s glad she’ll get some time off.

“What’s next is I get to have a life and I could get a job where they pay real money,” she said.

Smith’s supporters included Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley, R-District 2, who said Smith has what Mesa needs.

“He has the fresh vision and the leadership skills to get us there,” he said.

Smith, 51, has touted himself as a political outsider with hometown roots.

Until recently, he revealed few specifics about what he would do as mayor, but had pledged to use his business and legal acumen and knowledge of development to attract high quality projects.

Smith’s campaign reflected new trends in local politics, including an emphasis on early votes and use of YouTube videos dubbed “Scott Smith TV” to reach out to voters.

As a former homebuilder who sold his company at the height of the Arizona real estate boom, Smith put more money into his campaign than his competitors. He grabbed headlines when he loaned his campaign $80,000, then raised about the same amount from outside donors.

Smith said the race so far was “hard fought” and that he would have to start from scratch as he heads to the runoff.

Griswold’s political consultants said the votes cast for Walters in this election could help Griswold in the runoff.

One of the primary election dynamics has been whether voters wanted experience to lead a council that will have a majority of new members or someone like Smith, who has not been in Mesa’s inner political circle.

Shane Wikfors, a consultant, said Griswold’s campaign will work hard to woo Walters’ supporters.

“She knows Rex, she works with Rex, she knows he’s still governing,” said Wikfors, of Red Mountain Consulting.

Griswold, 55, has served on the council for six years. He stepped down to run for mayor in September.

Griswold, the former owner of Anzio Landing in east Mesa, brought a business background to the campaign. He is known as a consensus builder and was a crucial swing vote on a controversial property tax two years ago that put the measure on the ballot. But it failed with voters by a wide margin.

Since then, Griswold has continued to hammer on the city’s lack of a property tax, arguing that every new resident creates a strain on Mesa. The city, in large part, operates on its utility revenue and sales taxes, which have dropped dramatically in the face of declining consumer spending.

Griswold has consistently supported City Manager Chris Brady and Police Chief George Gascón.

He backs Gascón’s approach to enforcement on illegal immigration issues, which include training jail officers in immigration measures and checking the immigration status of people arrested and booked into jail.

Griswold said he was ready for the next round of campaigning.

“Ding, ding, ding,” he said.

Unnoficial election results

* headed to run off election May 20
Source: Maricopa County