Mary Manross is the former Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Scottsdale

Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. First elected in June 2000, she served two terms and lost her candidacy for her third term as mayor in the November 2008 runoff mayoral election to her opponent, former Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountant

Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...

 and businessman and former city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

man Jim Lane

Jim Lane (mayor)

W.J. "Jim" Lane is a former Scottsdale, Arizona city councilman and the current mayor of Scottsdale. Lane is a resident of north Scottsdale-Private life:Lane has been a Scottsdale resident since 1973, when he moved from New Jersey...

.

Prior to her election as mayor, Manross served four terms on the Scottsdale city council from 1992-2000. Although the election and office of the mayor of Scottsdale is nonpartisan

Nonpartisan

In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....

, Manross' Democratic affiliation is widely known. However, perceived as having wide appeal—having been endorsed by both the Democratic governor Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano is the third and current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She is the fourth person to hold the position, which was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the 21st...

 and the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Senator John McCain

John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

, and the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 as well as the Sierra Club

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

—her party affiliation has not hurt her chances in the conservative, largely Republican city of Scottsdale.

Before her election as councilwoman, she had served on several city government commissions and in leadership positions for local charitable organizations, as well as being campaign manager

Campaign manager

A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...

 for Mayor Herb Drinkwater's 1984 and 1988 mayoral campaigns. Manross is an alumna of the University of California at Los Angeles and Minot State University

Minot State University

Minot State University is a four-year institution of higher learning in Minot, North Dakota. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, Minot State University is the third-largest university in North Dakota, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs.Minot State University was founded in 1913...

, and has a teaching credential.

Election history