Scottsdale City Council runoff narrows as candidate exits to fight Axon apartments

The Scottsdale City Council runoff has narrowed to three candidates for two seats after one of four qualifying candidates withdrew to focus on opposing large apartment developments.

Former Councilman Bob Littlefield announced after the July 21 primary that he was leaving the race and returning as chairman of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions, known as TAAAZE.

He said the primary results changed the political landscape and made it more useful for him to fight large apartment projects from outside elected office.

What is TAAAZE, the anti-apartment group Littlefield will run?

TAAAZE is challenging a Scottsdale agreement with Axon over a planned development near Hayden Road and Loop 101. The group says it is not opposing Axon’s corporate headquarters, but is fighting the scale of the apartment portion of the project.

Littlefield previously stepped away from the group while running for council.

He said he will now focus on legal and political efforts tied to the Axon development and other growth issues in Scottsdale.

He received 22,091 votes in the primary and had already qualified to move on to the Nov. 3 general election.

Official results show 60,271 ballots were cast in the council race, amounting to a 36.2% turnout.

Littlefield’s exit leaves three candidates running for two seats

Incumbent Solange Whitehead was the only candidate to win a seat outright in the primary.

Under Scottsdale’s system, a council candidate can win outright in the primary by receiving a majority of the average votes cast per open seat. In a three-seat race, that works out to about 16.7% of the total candidate votes.

They were Michelle Ugenti-Rita, with 24,221 votes, Barry Graham with 23,565, Bob Littlefield with 22,091 and Raoul Zubia with 21,897.

Ethan Knowlden, Crystal Carroll and Eric Sloan did not advance.

Zubia, who remains in the race, said he shares Littlefield’s concerns about overdevelopment, though he hopes for a different approach.

“Our approaches are fundamentally different,” said Zubia in a statement. “We need to be strategic about our growth rather than outright banning development or using our water resources as a deterrent.”

Littlefield’s departure narrows the field for the remaining council seats. Littlefield said he believes two other candidates who oppose overdevelopment can win those seats.

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