The City of Flagstaff’s 2014 candidate election will take place later in the year than in the past due to revisions to an Arizona statue. City elections for Mayor and Council have, in the past, taken place in the spring with the primary in March and the general election in May. Flagstaff’s City Attorney and City Clerk have determined that due to the statutory change, the 2014 City Mayor and Council election will take place in the fall with the primary on August 26, 2014 and the general election on November 4, 2014.
The State legislature recently enacted a statute that requires all charter cities to hold candidate elections in the fall of even-numbered years. The cities of Phoenix and Tucson successfully challenged that law in the Pima County Superior Court; however, that decision is under appeal. It is unlikely that an appellate court ruling will be made in time to allow the City of Flagstaff to rely upon that decision and proceed with a spring election.
Given this change, Mayor Jerry Nabours and Council members Celia Barotz, Scott Overton and Mark Woodson whose terms are up in 2014, will continue to serve until sometime after the new November 2014 general election. Candidate packets will be available on March 31, 2014 for anyone interest in running for office.
The change will also mean that the City of Flagstaff candidate election will be part of a ballot that will have statewide offices and issues. Past city elections provided mail-in ballots to all registered voters in the City of Flagstaff. Since the fall ballot will include statewide offices and issues it must be a polling place election. Flagstaff residents may still request early ballots in the mail but for this election they will not be automatically mailed to residents.
