Gregory John Stanton (born March 8, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative from Arizona’s 4th congressional district, serving since 2019. A Democrat, he was previously mayor of Phoenix from 2012 to 2018, and was on the Phoenix City Council from 2000 until 2009.

Stanton was elected mayor in 2011 and reelected in 2015. After then-incumbent U.S. Representative Kyrsten Sinema chose to run for the U.S. Senate, Stanton was elected to the open House seat. In 2020, he was reelected with 61% of the vote.[1] In 2022, he was reelected with 56% of the vote.

Early life, education, and career

Stanton was born on Long Island, New York. His family moved to Arizona and he graduated from Cortez High School in west Phoenix in 1988.[2][3] He then attended Marquette University and graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in history and political science and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[citation needed] In 1995, Stanton earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.[4] He then worked as an education attorney from 1995 to 2000.[2] In 2014, Stanton became an adjunct professor at Arizona Summit Law School.[5]

Early political career

Phoenix City Council

Stanton was elected to the Phoenix City Council for 6th district in 2000, 2001, and 2005 and served until 2009.[2] This district included the affluent Phoenix Biltmore Area centered around the Biltmore Fashion Park and Arcadia areas, as well as non-contiguous Ahwatukee.[6]

Mayor of Phoenix

Greg Stanton briefs reporters at a press conference at City Hall.

Stanton was mayor of Phoenix from 2012 to 2018. During his 2011 campaign for mayor, questions arose over the legality of nearly $70,000 in contributions from Stanton’s former treasurer Mindy Shields.[7] Stanton opposed the embezzlement prosecution of Shields and fired her in October 2010.[8]

On August 30, 2011, Stanton and Republican candidate Wes Gullett were the top two candidates in the Phoenix mayoral primary, with Stanton getting about 38% of the vote and Gullett 20%.[9][10][11]

Stanton advocated against the 2013 federal budget sequestration by meeting with members of Congress multiple times.[12]

Stanton was reelected on August 25, 2015. In 2017, Governing magazine named Stanton one of its Public Officials of the Year for his efforts to expand light rail, bike lanes, and sidewalks while reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.[13] Stanton resigned on May 29, 2018, to run for Congress.[14]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Stanton during the 117th Congress

After incumbent Representative Kyrsten Sinema decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2018, to replace retiring U.S. Senator Jeff Flake, Stanton – who was term-limited as mayor – decided to run for Sinema’s seat.[15] He was unopposed in the Democratic primary, and defeated Republican nominee Steve Ferrara 61% to 39% after a campaign during which he stressed his problem-solving experience as mayor.[16]

2020

In 2020, Stanton was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican nominee Dave Giles in the general election with 61% of the vote.[1]

2022

Stanton ran for reelection in Arizona’s 4th congressional district after redistricting and defeated Republican nominee Kelly Cooper in the general election with 56% of the vote.[17]

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:[18]

Caucus memberships

Political positions

In an interview a few weeks after the November 2011 mayoral election, Stanton stated his support for repealing the city food tax.[20] He also supported public pension reforms, including more employee contributions to their retirement funds and longer work experience before retirement benefits.[20] In March 2013, Stanton decided against repealing the food tax due to projections that ending the tax would cause layoffs of nearly 99 police officers and 300 other city employees.[21]

As a Representative, Stanton supported the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[22]

On October 1, 2020, Stanton co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan‘s offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey‘s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire.[23]

Stanton voted with President Joe Biden‘s stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.[24]

Stanton opposed the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “a dark, dark day for our country” and saying the Supreme Court had an “extreme, ideological agenda”.[25]

Electoral history

Democratic primary results, Arizona 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticGreg Stanton 59,066 100%
Total votes59,066 100%
Arizona’s 9th congressional district, 2018
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticGreg Stanton 159,583 61.09%
RepublicanSteve Ferrara101,66238.91%
Total votes261,245 100%
Democratic hold
Democratic primary results, Arizona 2020[26]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticGreg Stanton (incumbent) 83,443 100%
Total votes83,443 100%
Arizona’s 9th congressional district, 2020[1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticGreg Stanton (incumbent) 217,094 61.06%
RepublicanDave Giles135,18038.04%
Total votes352,274 100%
Democratic hold
Arizona’s 4th congressional district, 2022
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticGreg Stanton (incumbent) 148,941 56.01%
RepublicanKelly Cooper116,52143.09%
IndependentStephan Jones (write-in)360.0%
Total votes265,498 100%
Democratic hold

Personal life

Stanton is married to Nicole Stanton, an attorney for a cannabis company.[27] They married in 2005 and have two children.[28] They separated in 2016 but were back together as of 2019.[29][28]
Stanton is Catholic.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c “State of Arizona – Official Canvass – 2020 General Election” (PDF). Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c “Phoenix Mayor & City Council candidates – arizona elections – azcentral.com”. archive.azcentral.com.
  3. ^ Holden, Mary L. (January 4, 2013). “CEO Series: One-on-One with Mayor Greg Stanton”. My Life Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  4. ^ Lundquist, Paulette (December 5, 2018). “Stanton”. The Hill. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  5. ^ Paula Lorena vs. Arizona Summit Law School, LLC; Infilaw Corporation; Stephanie and Jason Lee; Scott and Jane Doe Thompson; John and Jane Does 1-100; Black Corporations 1-100; White Partnerships 1-100, Quarles & Brady LLP 99 (United States District Court for the District of Arizona May 28, 2015).
  6. ^ Alonzo, Monica. “How Greg Stanton, a Fair-Haired, Blue-Politicked Lawyer, Became Phoenix’s Next Mayor”. Phoenix New Times. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  7. ^ Bui, Lynh (July 21, 2011). “Phoenix mayoral candidate Greg Stanton’s funds in question”. The Arizona Republic.
  8. ^ Gersema, Emily (February 27, 2011). “Phoenix candidate wants to drop embezzling case”. The Arizona Republic.
  9. ^ Bui, Lynh (September 1, 2011). “Phoenix mayor race: Stanton, Gullett jump right into runoff campaign”. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  10. ^ Bui, Lynh (November 8, 2011). “Greg Stanton claims victory over Wes Gullett in Phoenix election”. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  11. ^ Bui, Lynh (January 4, 2012). “Stanton sworn in as new Phoenix mayor”. azcentral.com. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  12. ^ “Into the mind of … Greg Stanton”. The Arizona Republic. November 17, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  13. ^ “Greg Stanton, Phoenix”. Governing. December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. ^ Boehm, Jessica. “It’s official: Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton resigns to run for Congress”. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  15. ^ “Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton announces run for Congress”. KTAR.com. October 5, 2017.
  16. ^ “Greg Stanton defeats Steve Ferrara in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District race”. AZ Central. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  17. ^ “2022 Primary Election”. Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  18. ^ “Greg Stanton”. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  19. ^ “Members”. New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  20. ^ a b “Into the mind of Greg Stanton”. The Arizona Republic. November 25, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  21. ^ Gardiner, Dustin (March 21, 2013). “Stanton backs off repeal of food tax”. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  22. ^ “House Debate on the Equality Act”. C-SPAN. May 17, 2019.
  23. ^ “Senate and House Leaders to Secretary of State Pompeo: Cut Military Aid to Azerbaijan; Sanction Turkey for Ongoing Attacks Against Armenia and Artsakh”. The Armenian Weekly. October 2, 2020.
  24. ^ Bycoffe, Aaron; Wiederkehr, Anna (April 22, 2021). “Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?”. FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  25. ^ Stanton, Greg (June 24, 2022). “This is a dark, dark day for our country, and the Supreme Court. For 50 years the Court had recognized the constitutional right to an abortion—and in the pursuit of an extreme, ideological agenda it has rolled out the red carpet for states to criminalize women and their doctors”. Twitter. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  26. ^ “2020 Primary Election”. Arizona Secretary of State. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  27. ^ D’Andrea, Niki (May 18, 2021). “Nicole Stanton, Cannabis Counsel and Congressman’s Wife, Talks Recent Harvest Acquisition”. Phoenix New Times. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  28. ^ a b “Nicole Stanton’s Phoenix ties to finding love, leadership and leveraging success”. The Upper Middle. April 21, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  29. ^ Gardiner, Dustin. “Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and wife Nicole Stanton separate”. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  30. ^ Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress

External links

Political offices
Preceded by

Mayor of Phoenix
2012–2018
Succeeded by

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona’s 9th congressional district

2019–2023
Succeeded by

Preceded by

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arizona’s 4th congressional district

2023–present
Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by

United States representatives by seniority
276th
Succeeded by