Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton didn't resign this week. What that means for city elections

Jan. 4 has come and gone, which means very little to most but quite a lot to those watching Phoenix elections.

Thursday was the last day Mayor Greg Stanton could resign to trigger a May election to fill his seat.

Stanton is running for Congress in District 9, the seat currently held by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix (she's running for U.S. Senate). But he's remained mum on when he's going to step away from his current job.

The date of the election to replace Stanton depends on when Stanton resigns. The city can only call an election on four days per year, and it has to call it at least 120 days before the date.

Now that Stanton's decided to stick around past Jan. 4, he's ruled out a May date, which means the elections to replace Stanton and at least two council members (Kate Gallego and Daniel Valenzuela both plan to run for mayor), will be consolidated with the August and November elections.

That's ironic given Phoenix leaders, including Stanton, have fought at the Legislature and in court for years to allow cities to hold their elections separate from statewide and federal elections.

"The public wouldn't want consolidated libraries or consolidated senior centers," Stanton told The Arizona Republic in 2012. "Why would they want consolidated elections?"

The upside to August and November city elections: You can all but guarantee a higher voter turnout, and the elections will cost the city less because it will split the price with the county.

The potential downside: Who's going to have time to talk about local races when we'll have at least one U.S. Senate race, several tumultuous congressional races and tons of statewide races to keep us busy?

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