Kate Gallego is the Mayor-Elect of the fifth largest city in the United States.

Phoenix Mayor-Elect Kate Gallego

A 17-month campaign to become the next Mayor of Phoenix ended with a decisive runoff victory for former Phoenix Councilmember, now Mayor-Elect Kate Gallego.

With her opponent former Phoenix Councilmember Daniel Valenzuela conceding defeat, Mayor-Elect Gallego will formally succeed Representative Greg Stanton who resigned to run for Congress last year.

A 37-year-old New Mexico native, a graduate of Wharton and Harvard, a former Phoenix Councilmember, and a mother of a two and a half-year-old son who she called “the cutest resident (of Phoenix,) she will lead the largest city in Arizona and fifth largest in the United States. She will become the second woman to win election to the Phoenix Mayoral office and the third lady to serve in that position.

Talking to cheering supporters who were chanting “Go Kate Go,” the Mayor-Elect, distracted a few times by her two-year-old son who she called “her inspiration,”  thanked everyone who supported her as she faced “doubters, rain, and… dark money.” She thanked her parents for being there for her. She expressed gratitude to various organizations that backed her candidacy like Planned Parenthood, the Police Sergeant and Lieutenants Association, and the Green Chamber. She saluted the members of her official and unofficial campaign team and the people that make up the City of Phoenix workforce, including the bureaucratic staff, firemen and law enforcement, and the City Council.

Repeating her main motive for running for office, the Mayor-Elect pledged to build a “cool” city that her son would “be proud to call home.” She vowed that Phoenix would become a “leading international city” that would excel in “inclusivity, innovation, and (sustainability).” Later when talking to the press, she said she would fight for everyone “from our homeless individuals to our youngest residents.”

Mayor-Elect Gallego will be sworn in on Thursday, March 21

 

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