2 candidates are running for Surprise mayor. What to know

Surprise is set to have a new mayor leading the City Council following the July 30 elections.

Two candidates who qualified for the ballot and one write-in candidate are competing to fill Mayor Skip Hall’s seat. He’s leaving office after spending the last 16 years as an elected public servant in Surprise, six of which were as mayor.

Surprise’s mayoral contest will coincide with races for three of the council’s district seats — Districts 2, 3 and 4. All three are uncontested, with only one incumbent, Councilmember Patrick Duffy of District 3, seeking reelection.

That means at least two new faces will appear on the council in the next term.

Depending on how the mayor’s race shakes out, a third newcomer could also be seated at the head of the dais.

When the elections conclude, the new and returning faces will enter office at a time when the West Valley is seeing rapid expansion and cities are bracing for revenue shortfalls resulting from new state policies.

That growth is being felt in Surprise, which has about 160,000 residents. It’s prompted vocal calls from residents to get ahead of the anticipated population and development by addressing Surprise’s roads and infrastructure.

Additionally, the new mayor and city leaders will oversee Surprise’s $952 million budget and shape policies immediately impacting residents’ day-to-day lives.

Arizona local elections: Read our full coverage of the Surprise mayor's race

All of the candidates answered The Arizona Republic's questionnaire.

Early voting began on July 3. Voters can check on the status of their mailed-in ballot on Maricopa County’s website at https://elections.maricopa.gov/voting/voter-dashboard-login. Those who choose to vote by mail are advised to mail their ballot by July 23 or drop it off at a ballot drop-off location or voting location by July 30.

Who’s running for Surprise mayor?

Councilmember Aly Cline and Kevin Sartor, who both qualified for ballot placement, are running for the mayoral seat. Emerging as a write-in option is Ed Cunningham.

Cline, 71, has represented Surprise’s second district since being elected in 2020. She’s turned her attention to higher office, hoping to replace Hall.

She spent more than 30 years in the financial services industry, holding leadership positions at Wells Fargo Bank, First Interstate Bank and Security Pacific Bank.

She wants to use that experience to support and bring local businesses to Surprise, recognizing their importance to the city’s ongoing economic future.

In her campaign materials, Cline says she values the resident input and highlights her government experience to run on issues like fiscal responsibility, investing in public safety and supporting veterans.

In public statements and campaign materials, Cline has also touted her experience as an elected official to distinguish herself from her political rival.

Such comments landed Cline in hot water last month, when her fellow council members censured her for using city resources to campaign for office.

During a city-sponsored community meeting, Cline told residents she was the better candidate because unlike Sartor, a school district employee, she has the time for the job as a retiree. She also encouraged the residents to vote for her.

Sartor, 41, is a retired Army officer who led combat missions during the Iraq War. He now works for the Dysart Unified School District as its safety coordinator and served as the chair of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

He’s campaigning on a host of issues. Chief among them is improving public safety around the city and at Surprise’s schools.

If elected mayor, he also wants to expand the city’s water portfolio, connect veterans to more job opportunities and improve roads.

Cunningham, 50, is a former firefighter paramedic and business owner who operated a Firehouse Subs franchise in Surprise.

Though he missed the deadline to file his signature petition for ballot placement, Cunningham is banking on his business experience and charitable endeavors in the community to improve his chances of getting elected as a long-shot candidate.

Where do the Surprise mayoral hopefuls overlap, differ on public safety?

For both Cline and Sartor, public safety is their top priority. Each emphasized its importance amid Surprise’s anticipated population growth and need for better roads.

Surprise’s streets haven’t kept up with the influx of new residents. That’s prompted outcry from those concerned about traffic congestion and its effects on police and firefighter response times.

The Maricopa Association of Governments projects Surprise’s population to reach 235,000 by 2030, a 46% increase. That expansion will occur in Surprise’s vacant land to the north and west of the McMicken Dam.

Surprise leaders have already committed significant funds to the city’s police and fire departments. Each department will have a budget exceeding $49 million this coming fiscal year.

Collectively, that’s nearly double the amount the city spent on public safety five years earlier and represents about half of Surprise’s operational budget.

The city will also put the $100 million it secured from bond measures voters approved last fall toward road improvements, a new fire station and a police substation.

Based on their stance on public safety, Cline and Sartor are likely to support measures to increase public safety spending in the coming years.

Believing that “public safety has never been more important,” Sartor raised concerns with teen violence in the East Valley and school shootings that have devastated U.S. communities.

As mayor, Sartor said he wants to create a Surprise School Safety Committee comprising public, private and charter school officials.

The group could invite experts to discuss current issues and best practices, and would focus on coordinated efforts between the schools and city to reduce response times during emergencies.

He also said the fire and police departments must grow apace with the city’s expansion.

If the city’s roads and infrastructure don’t keep up with the population projections, Surprise will endure more public safety issues, Sartor said during a candidate forum the Northwest Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted.

To support development without creating more traffic, Sartor said he would have the city collect impact fees from developers to pay for the infrastructure surrounding their projects.

He also wants to see projects approved contiguously — meaning they would neighbor each other without creating pockets of development. Doing so, he said, means the city wouldn't foot the bill to complete the infrastructure between two non-neighboring projects.

On public safety, Cline stated in campaign materials that she “will fight hard every day to ensure that our first responders have the tools and resources they need to be there when we need them most,” she stated.

To Cline, that means investing in traffic intersection improvements to make them safer and having “well-connected” roads so officers and firefighters can keep response times low.

“We are making some strides to improve our streets, but there is more work to be done — especially in the growing parts of our city,” she added.

What have candidates said about Surprise’s economic development?

During the chamber’s May 3 forum, Cline and Sartor both committed to supporting local businesses.

While both have made general statements about Surprise’s economic development, their responses stood in contrast to one another.

Cline said she has supported the city's Economic Development Department “with a number of things."

One example she gave was launching the city's Women in Business program. The group hosts events during the year to sponsor women business owners.

She also chairs the city’s Education Committee, which promotes workforce development initiatives alongside local businesses.

Sartor said economic development support starts with public safety, infrastructure and water.

“If we can’t provide those things, no company is going to probably want to come here,” he said.

He added that he'd like to see the chamber, Western Maricopa Education Center and Dysart Unified collaborate on providing workforce development opportunities.

Such programs connect job seekers to their desired field of work through training and resume writing.

Any major endorsements?

Sartor has gathered a handful of supporters to back his campaign. Among them are Councilmember Jack Hastings and Dysart Schools Governing Board President Dawn Densmore.

Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire of the National Guard and state Republican lawmakers Sen. Janae Shamp and Rep. Steve Montenegro have also endorsed Sartor’s campaign.

As of March 31, Sartor raised $1,275 from donors.

Cline’s list of endorsements includes former Surprise City Manager Michael Frazier, El Mirage Councilmember Roy Delgado and Fountain Hills Councilmember Peggy McMahon.

As for her war chest, Cline has outearned Sartor, going into the election season with more than $16,000 in contributions.

Donations from political action committees made up $14,500 of those funds, according to her financial reports.

The United Phoenix Firefighters Local 493 was her biggest contributor, with the Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, Phoenix and Tempe chapters each giving $2,000 to $3,000. The Southwest Gas Political Action Committee contributed $500.

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Surprise mayoral election 2024: Meet the candidates