Who is the mayor of Phoenix? What to know about Kate Gallego

Kate Gallego became the mayor of Phoenix in 2019 and is up for reelection in 2024.

She was elected to City Council in 2013 as the council representative for District 8, part of downtown and south Phoenix. She drew support by campaigning for a more environmentally friendly and urban city and enhanced public transportation. Gallego was the first white person elected to represent District 8, a majority-minority area that, while mostly Latino, elected the council's only Black councilmember for decades.

She was re-elected to represent District 8 in 2017 after running unopposed, but she quickly vacated the seat to run for mayor in 2018, after Greg Stanton resigned the post to run for Congress. She and Daniel Valenzuela were the top vote getters in November 2018. Gallego defeated him in the March 2019 runoff, then ran again in November 2020 and won her first full term.

Gallego, a Democrat, is Phoenix's second elected female mayor. Margaret T. Hance was first elected in 1975.

Gallego grew up in New Mexico. She graduated from Harvard University and received a master of business administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Gallego worked in economic development for Salt River Project, one of the state's largest utility providers, before joining the City Council. As Mayor, Gallego has advocated for more economic development, with a focus on high-wage jobs, and measures to make Phoenix a more sustainable desert city.

Gallego was instrumental in bringing the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Phoenix. TSMC is set to open its first Phoenix factory in 2025 and second factory in 2026. Her role in attracting the company was praised by President Joe Biden. Gallego also championed the city's new Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, which she called the first publicly funded office of its kind in the nation.

She was formerly married to U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is the mayor of Phoenix? What to know about Kate Gallego