Solange Whitehead takes early lead in Scottsdale City Council primary

While incumbent Solange Whitehead jumped to an early lead in Tuesday’s Scottsdale City Council primary, the race for all three open seats remained too close to call Wednesday afternoon.

With eight candidates competing for three seats, Whitehead led the field with 17.7% of approximately 46,000 ballots tallied so far, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department.

Here are how the other candidates currently stack up:

• Former state legislator Michelle Ugenti-Rita (14.9%)
• Incumbent Barry Graham (14.4%)
• Bob Littlefield (13.6%)
• Raoul Zubia (13.5%)
• Ethan Knowlden (13.3%)
• Crystal Carroll (7.3%)
• Eric Sloan (5.4%)

Under city rules, a candidate who earns more than 16.7% of the vote can win a seat outright at the primary. The candidates that did not clear that threshold advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

If the current primary order holds and only Whitehead wins her seat outright, Ugenti-Rita, Graham, Littlefield and Zubia would advance to the runoff for the remaining two seats.

Nonpartisan race defined by Scottsdale’s growth and water policy

Whitehead campaigned on a record that included voter-approved bond packages, park funding and McDowell Sonoran Preserve protections.

Ugenti-Rita ran on a conservative anti-development platform, attacking Whitehead’s support for a 1,200-unit apartment project and her advocacy for direct potable water reuse, which Ugenti-Rita labeled “toilet to tap.”

The third incumbent seat had been held by Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield, who was stopped by running again by term limits.

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