Griswold and Smith gear up for Mesa mayor runoff

With fewer than five weeks before votes start pouring in again, the two remaining candidates for Mesa mayor are ready to get gritty.

Griswold, Smith head to runoff for Mesa mayor

Frontrunner Scott Smith, who nabbed a 2,000-vote lead in Tuesday’s primary election based on unofficial results, will face Rex Griswold, the second top vote-getter, in a May 20 runoff election.

They will face the challenges of shallow war chests and voter fatigue.

But they also will be coming off the high of a race that brought extremely high turnout with more than 42,000 votes, a 30 percent increase over the last mayoral election.

Political consultant Jason Rose, who’s not working for either candidate, predicted the race between Smith and Griswold would mirror the Barack Obama-Hillary Rodham Clinton battle: It will be very close and it will center on “experience versus change.”

And though Vice Mayor Claudia Walters was edged out in Tuesday’s race, she still carries a lot of weight, Rose said.

“I would imagine that both Rex and Scott, who are not used to wearing lipstick, will put it on to kiss her big ring,” he said.

Walters received nearly 12,000 votes, and both candidates will be scrambling for her supporters, in addition to new voters.

But money will be a factor.

“How much gas is left in Griswold’s tank, and how much can he go raise?” Rose said. “That’s one advantage Smith’s got. He can just write a check to get around it.”

Early voting for May’s general election begins April 17, and the candidates wasted no time in outlining their goals to reach the voters.

Smith has said he will roll out a very specific plan called “Building a Better Mesa” and assemble a team of community experts to talk about solutions.

He says he also has an answer for those who question his experience.

Finances? He audited his first city budget 25 years ago.

Streets? He built streets and water systems as a developer.

Turning a city around? He took a company that was close to bankruptcy and built a multimillion dollar business.

“Those are the things I bring to the table,” he said.

Griswold, however, said his votes on Tuesday came from people who have seen his record as a public servant.

“They liked that I’m responsive, that I return calls and e-mails and worked on issues for them,” he said. “They thought I was a good public servant. I was surprised how many people remembered me because I had done something small for them five years ago.”

With so little time left, Griswold said he would spend his campaign meeting with groups and people on a personal level.

“It’s just communicating the message over and over again,” he said.

Griswold also promised more specific plans.

“You’re going to see both of our plans for what the city would look like after four years and the practical steps for arriving there,” he said. “They question is, how are you going to get there?”

Election results
Unofficial results for Mesa, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Web site. Included is candidate, total votes and percentage of votes received:
** In runoff election May 20
Mesa mayor
**Scott Smith 16,229 38.21
**Rex Griswold 14,198 33.43
Claudia Walters 11,890 27.99
Write-In Candidate 160 0.38