Politics & Government

Does Mayor Phil Want to be Congressman Phil? The Rumor Mill is Turning

Here's one fresh from the rumor mill:With John Shadegg's long-overdue departure from the U.S. House of Representatives, there are rumors that Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon may be looking to take his seat.So, does Mr. Gordon really want to go to Washington? He's certainly spent a lot of time there this...
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Here’s one fresh from the rumor mill:

With John Shadegg’s long-overdue departure from the U.S. House of Representatives, there are rumors that Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon may be looking to take his seat.

So, does Mr. Gordon really want to go to Washington? He’s certainly spent a lot of time there this year and his term-limited reign as mayor is about to come to an end — it seems to make sense.

We called his office today to get the skinny but nobody’s gotten back to us yet.

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As far as we can tell, If Gordon were to formally declare his candidacy, because he has more than a year left in his current term, Phil would have to resign from his gig as mayor — probably some time in the next few months — as part of Arizona’s resign to run election law.

That might make some City Council members happy, as councilmembers Tom Simplot, Claude Mattox, and Peggy Neeley have all expressed an interest is running for mayor once Phil’s out of the way.

As for a potential Republican challenger in the scenario that Gordon runs, well, it seems as though everyone from political rookie and Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker to Tom Smith, founder of the TASER stun-gun company, are rumored to be interested in the job.

As we stated in a prior post, as much fun as it will be to watch this one play out, it doesn’t take away from the true gift: John Shadegg is retiring. 

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