Greg Stanton resigns as Phoenix mayor to pursue Congressional seat

PHOENIX — It’s the start of a new era: Greg Stanton is no longer the mayor of Phoenix.

Stanton officially resigned from his tenure as the head of the largest city in Arizona at noon on Tuesday in order to run for U.S. Rep. Krysten Sinema’s (D-Ariz.) seat.

Vice Mayor Thelda Williams will serve as interim mayor until a Mayor Pro Tempore is elected at a city council meeting on June 11.

Council members who are interested in the mayoral position will be required to declare their interest within 10 days.

If they are chosen to be mayor during the city council meeting, they would serve as both mayor and as a council member until the special election on Nov. 6.

Council members who want to run for mayor in the November special election will be forced to resign by Aug. 8.

Phoenix City Council members Daniel Valenzuela and Kate Gallego, Moses Sanchez, Nicholas Sarwark and Michael Lafferty have already announced their bids for mayor.

Stanton announced last year that he would run for the Congressional District 9 seat, which will be vacated by Sinema, who is hoping to run in the Democratic spot for U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-Ariz.) seat in November.

Stanton served as mayor for more than six years. His term would have expired in 2019.

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