{"id":119,"date":"2026-05-20T05:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=119"},"modified":"2026-05-20T05:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T05:34:01","slug":"challengers-poised-to-oust-incumbents-in-tempe-city-council-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"Challengers poised to oust incumbents in Tempe City Council election"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Out with the old and in with the new. So, apparently, voted Tempe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two challengers \u2014 including one who has aligned himself with the Democratic Socialists of America \u2014 are poised to unseat incumbents in the first Tempe City Council run-off elections in more than a decade, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night by the Maricopa County Elections Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Glendale Community College used AI at graduation and it went horribly<\/a><\/p>\n

Upstarts Brooke St. George and Bobby Nichols, a DSA- and Bernie Sanders-endorsed candidate, are likely to beat out sitting councilmembers Berdetta Hodge and Jennifer Adams, preliminary results show. It\u2019s a tight race, with St. George receiving 29% of the vote, the highest among the four candidates, and Nichols receiving 25.28%. Hodge came in a close third with 23.83% while Adams trailed with 21.9%.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe overcame out-of-state spending and political division,\u201d St. George said in an email statement, referencing mailers sent to Tempe residents attacking her that were paid for by out-of-state money. \u201cAnd, we showed that we\u2019re stronger when we come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The early results consist of tallied ballots received through the mail, drop boxes or at the county\u2019s Ballot Replacement Center. Votes cast today, either in person or dropped off, as well as provisional ballots and ballots with signatures that need curing, have yet to be counted. The county will not know how many votes remain to be counted until tomorrow, said deputy elections director Jennifer Liewer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hodge, who was elected in 2022 and is the first Black woman elected to the council, did not concede the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re keeping our heads high, staying optimistic, and awaiting the final results as every ballot is counted,\u201d she said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

Nichols and Adams did not respond to requests for comment. Once the results are finalized, the two winners will serve four year-terms on the council, joining Arlene Chin, an incumbent councilmember who won outright in the March primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Witness: Locked gate at women\u2019s prison impeded inmate suicide response<\/a><\/p>\n

This election was the most contentious in recent memory in Tempe.<\/p>\n

Hodge and Adams were put on notice last year, after the council unanimously voted to pass a new special events ordinance that many community groups felt targeted mutual aid groups that distribute food to unhoused people in Tempe parks. The vote sparked a signature-gathering campaign to place a repeal measure on the ballot \u2014 spearheaded by Nichols and others \u2014 and inspired challenges to incumbent councilmembers up for reelection.<\/p>\n

Perhaps sensing a possible electoral backlash, the council reversed itself a month later \u2014 also unanimously \u2014 to repeal the special events ordinance. It is currently working on crafting a new version. But that didn\u2019t slake the desire of left-leaning Tempe voters to toss sitting councilmembers out of office.<\/p>\n

The runoff election saw more mudslinging than in previous years and unprecedented outsider meddling. Residents gossiped and posted about candidates in a community Facebook group while Washington, D.C. bigwigs like Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders chimed in with endorsements. After the primary, mailers and texts paid for with 100% out-of-state money began arriving in people\u2019s inboxes and smartphones. The mailers and texts targeted Nichols and St. George, accusing them of being socialists who will harm the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the DSA-backed candidate, Nichols was a marked man. He ran on a polarizing platform that promised rent control, an increase in affordable housing, expanded public transportation and more \u2014 all of which he promised to fund with tax increases, according to his campaign website. Meanwhile, St. George, who was not a DSA candidate, told The State Press that she isn\u2019t against some of his ideas but is \u201cconcerned about the feasibility of some of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Assuming St. George and Nichols hold on to their leads after all votes are tallied, they\u2019ll break up what has to this point been a lockstep council that has seemed to always vote in unison. However, they\u2019ll represent just two seats on the seven-member council, raising the question of how much they\u2019ll actually be able to influence decision-making at city hall.<\/p>\n

At least until the next election, when Tempe voters can take another crack at reshaping the council.<\/p>\n

Read more There might be a \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o this year. What would that mean for Phoenix?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooke St. George and Bobby Nichols ran to the left of two sitting Tempe City Council members — and are poised to win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nChallengers poised to oust incumbents in Tempe City Council election - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Challengers poised to oust incumbents in Tempe City Council election - Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brooke St. George and Bobby Nichols ran to the left of two sitting Tempe City Council members -- and are poised to win.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=119\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T05:34:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b18a6d477e57bdeec7b4b61a70eace7b\"},\"headline\":\"Challengers poised to oust incumbents in Tempe City Council election\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T05:34:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119\"},\"wordCount\":729,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/a506a38d8ce6d0e8934fbb380b8fc7cb.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=119\",\"name\":\"Challengers poised to oust incumbents in Tempe City Council election - 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