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Political alliances continue to take shape in City Council District 8 with State Senator Anna Tovar being the latest to declare her support for Kate Gallego, one of several candidates in the race.
Gallego, along with Lawrence Robinson and Pastor Warren Stewart, are vying to replace Councilman Michael Johnson, a representative who has reached his term limit in office.
The seahorse-shaped district stretches as far west as 59th Avenue to 48th Street in the east. It encompasses Laveen, South Phoenix and Central Phoenix.
In a press release announcing the her endorsement, Tovar says that Gallego “possesses the rare combination of inspiring passion for service and the critical ability to build coalitions capable of accomplishing difficult tasks.”
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Those qualities will serve Gallego given that several community organizers who have been working to mobilize South Phoenix are aligning themselves with Robinson.
In fact, Gallego and her husband, State Representative Ruben Gallego, who was running for re-election, were part of the teams forged to rally the community to the polls. At that time, those young community leaders were working to get Robinson elected to a seat on the Roosevelt School District Governing Board. He won that spot.
Those teams were also expending their political energy to get Paul Penzone elected as Maricopa County Sheriff. Although Penzone didn’t win, teams of organizers, one known as the Rise of South Phoenix, tasted the success of enticing thousands of voters to the polls who weren’t likely to otherwise cast a ballot.
Penzone, along with Councilman Tom Simplot, endorsed Robinson.
The old guard in Democratic politics — those longtime community leaders with name recognition — are standing with Stewart, pastor of the First Institutional Baptist Church in South Phoenix.
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and Danny Ortega, a community activist, are among those lending their political support to the pastor.
