Candidates already eyeing Mesa mayor seat
May 9—Mesa Mayor John Giles' closes out his second term as mayor at the end of 2024, and according to the city charter, is not eligible to run again until 2028.
That leaves a vacuum at the city's top elected job and several well-known politicians and others already are circling it.
Residents interested in running for mayor still have almost a year to file their candidate forms and petitions with the City Clerk before the April 8, 2024 deadline, but already there are signs that the city could be headed for a competitive race.
District 1 Councilman and former Vice Mayor Mark Freeman has formed a campaign committee and filed a statement of interest.
Former Mesa Mayor and Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith and former congressman Matt Salmon tell the Tribune they are considering runs.
Robert Adams and Andre Miller, a civil rights leader and pastor at New Beginnings Church in Mesa, have filed statements of interest.
Candidates must file statements of interest with the city before they can begin collecting 1,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.
Former District 4 Councilman Chris Glover registered a mayoral campaign committee in 2021, but told the Tribune he will not run.
Freeman said he's not "the typical guy who decides to run for mayor."
But, he added, "there's still work that I would like to do as an elected official" after he finishes his second term on council in 2024.
Freeman said that the city faces "bumps on the horizon," and he believes his background in public safety as a firefighter, as well as his knowledge of water as a farmer would be useful for the city.
Smith has filed a statement of interest and said he is still exploring the possibility of a run for the seat he held from 2008 to 2014.
He may have a decision by June.
"I don't want to string it out too long," he said.
Smith retired last year as CEO of Valley Metro, so he said he currently has time to devote to the office and has been asked to consider a run.
"I enjoyed being mayor very much," he said of his six years in office. "I appreciate all the good things in Mesa and have always wanted to be involved as best I can."
Salmon said he is "seriously" thinking about running for Mesa mayor in 2024.
He served as a U.S. Congressman for Arizona from 1995 to 2001 and again in 2013 until 2017.
In 2016, he joined Arizona State University as vice president of public affairs before stepping down in 2021 ahead of his run for Arizona governor last year.
"I'm really burned out and fed up with partisan politics, but I still have a strong heart to serve," he said. "We just really love Mesa and I have some skills and abilities."
Salmon chaired Smith's 2008 campaign for Mesa mayor.
He told the Tribune he's going to make his decision independent of who else enters the field, "unless Ronald Reagan" somehow joins the race.
"I just have to decide in my heart whether it's the right thing to do or not," he said.
Freeman said he envisions a competitive race for Mesa's next mayor, and as one of the first candidates to jump in the race, he's hitting the ground running.
"I'm out talking to community leaders and organizations about their thoughts and my thoughts and working with all sides," he said.
