Scottsdale City Council member drops out of race, endorses opponents

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — A candidate forum at Scottsdale City Hall Thursday, sponsored by the Arizona Digital Free Press, took a strange and unexpected turn when incumbent council member Tom Durham surprised everyone by announcing that he’s dropping out of the race and no longer running for reelection.

“Today, I’m going to ask you to do something very unusual for a politician and ask you not to vote for me in November,” Durham told the audience.

Four candidates were running for two open seats on the Scottsdale City Council, but now there are three.

Durham said the main reason he’s leaving the race is that he doesn’t want one of his opponents, Adam Kwasman, elected. He claims Kwasman’s extreme ideas will hurt the city.

“I am very much concerned that the election of Adam Kwasman to the council would put much of our progress in jeopardy and threaten the future of Scottsdale,” Durham said.

Durham spoke to Arizona’s Family Friday and said he didn’t want to split votes with fellow moderates Tammy Caputi and MaryAnn McAllen and give Kwasman a clear path to victory.

“We’ve passed a new anti-discrimination ordinance. We’ve worked on short-term rentals, increased fire and police pay, and I think all of those things could be in jeopardy if we don’t have the right people on the city council moving forward,” Durham said.

Kwasman told Arizona’s Family that he is disappointed in the personal attacks from Durham, but he is focused on the issues that impact the people of Scottsdale.

“It is very undemocratic,” said Kwasman. “The democratic process is, if you are going to run, you finish the race. He was never serious. We all want a positive vision for Scottsdale. Unfortunately, Tom was never able to get out of his own way and ultimately quit.”

Media consultant Chip Scutari has been covering Scottsdale politics for years.

He said Durham received the fewest votes in the primary, and he was unlikely to win in November.

“The Scottsdale electorate is very fickle,” said Scutari. “I’ve lived here a long time, worked here a long time. They are a tough bunch to predict, so we will see Nov 6-7, whenever they count ballots, if this strategy by Councilman Durham pays off.”

A Scottsdale spokesperson said that even though Durham is dropping out of the race, his name will still appear on the November ballot because there is not enough time to remove it.

Durham’s name on the ballot could create some confusion for Scottsdale voters.

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