Scottsdale City Council race tightens as Turning Point-backed candidates lead

Councilmember Barry Graham and former state lawmaker Michelle Ugenti-Rita held narrow leads Wednesday for two Scottsdale City Council seats. Raoul Zubia, who led in early returns, had fallen to third.

With 107,098 ballots counted, Ugenti-Rita had 47,849 votes, or 33.8%, and Graham had 47,827, or 33.8%. Zubia trailed with 45,949, or 32.4%, about 1,900 votes behind Graham. The top two vote-getters win the seats.

The race had not been called, and ballots were still being counted.

Zubia was in first place when the first results were released Tuesday night, but later batches of ballots moved the race toward Graham and Ugenti-Rita.

A Scottsdale race defined by water and growth

The race is officially nonpartisan. Graham and Ugenti-Rita ran on a joint conservative platform and were endorsed by groups such as Turning Point Action. Ugenti-Rita also had the longtime support of “Saturday Night Live” alum and Scottsdale resident Rob Schneider.

Zubia, a retired banker who describes himself as a moderate, had backing from local Democratic groups and urged supporters to vote only for him.

The candidates split most sharply over water.

Zubia supports expanding a program to purify wastewater into drinking water. Ugenti-Rita, who has derided the idea as “toilets-to-taps,” opposes adding purified recycled water directly to the drinking supply, and Graham has called it a last resort.

Development and the city’s dealings with Axon were also central to the campaign.

Incumbent Solange Whitehead won a third seat outright in the July primary. A fourth candidate, former Councilmember Bob Littlefield, qualified for the November ballot but withdrew in August to help Graham and Ugenti-Rita.

The winners will take office in January.

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