By Staff Reporter |

A Mesa-area legislative district match-up is set for the General Election in the state of Arizona.

Last week, Robert Scantlebury defeated Christopher Stapley in their primary election contest for the Republican nomination for Legislative District 9 Senate. According to unofficial results on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website, Scantlebury received 9,766 votes, compared to Stapley’s 5,323 votes (64.7-35.3%).

In a post to his social media accounts in the aftermath of Election Day, Scantlebury said, “One down and one to go! My focus is now on the General Election on November 5th. This win is the result of a lot of hard work. I am thankful for all the help from family, friends, supporters, volunteers, donors and conservative groups. I am honored that more than 9,747 people voted for me. I appreciate the thousands of people who visited with me at their homes. Many shared their concerns about the effects of crime (mental health, addiction, and homeless issues), our open border, and our struggle to afford housing and everyday expenses like food and gas. One of the most powerful topics was parents’ concerns for the future of our children in Arizona.”

Scantlebury added, “We need a State Senator who looks at issues from the perspective of citizens. We only have a one seat Republican advantage in the State Senate; it is critical to maintaining and improving our way of life to elect more representatives like me who share our values. With your help, I can win back our seat in Legislative District 9.”

Gene Klund, a longtime Republican activist in the east valley, responded to Scantlebury’s victory lap, writing, “Thank you for all your hard work over the years….to make this happen. You will be a great addition to our State Senate and I know you will always try to [do] what is best for all of the taxpayers. Keep up all your hard work for the General Election….”

The Republican candidate for state Senate had obtained a number of key endorsements leading up to his victory on July 30. On July 17, Scantlebury boasted of his endorsement from the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona and from Stand for Health Freedom. Previously, Scantlebury had received endorsements from the Mesa Police Association, the Latinos United for Conservative Action, the Arizona Republican Assembly, and the East Valley Young Republicans.

Out of all the endorsements for his campaign, Scantlebury most appreciated the support from his Republican district. In sharing the endorsement from the Legislative District 9 Republican Committee, Scantlebury stated, “This is the most important endorsement. I am happy to have the full endorsement of the precinct committeemen and committeewomen of Legislative District 9. These are the most involved and informed voters.”

The Legislative District 9 Republicans had issued a press release on June 4 announcing their support of Scantlebury’s candidacy for office against his primary election opponent. The communication revealed that the endorsement had originated from its May 30th meeting with a resolution agreed upon by a majority of the attendees. That resolution made the case that Scantlebury deserved the nod in LD 9 because he “narrowly lost the General race to the Democrat candidate that was supported by almost $1.5M in large donations (mostly from out of state) to push the Democratic competitor,” and because he “announced his candidacy to run again in the 2024 race well before ANY competitor announced a run and has consistently attended our LD 9 meetings, acted as our Sargent at Arms and has been involved with our grassroots efforts…as a Precinct Committeeman.”

The Republican Committee also wrote that “the recent competitor to enter into the Primary for the LD9 Senate seat has yet to even reach out to Robert Scantlebury to discuss their campaign and qualifications for the 2024 race WHEREAS Robert Scantlebury has literally done all the legwork to get to know the constituents of LD9 over the past 3 years and pledged his commitment to represent WE THE PEOPLE.”

The document resolved “that the Body of the LD9 GOP do hereby FULLY ENDORSE Robert Scantlebury as our Candidate for LD9 Senator and believe he is the BEST candidate to ONCE AGAIN defeat the incumbent LD9 Senator!”

Scantlebury will face off against incumbent Senator Eva Burch, who was unopposed in her Democrat primary election. Burch received 11,015 votes, according to unofficial numbers.

The Mesa law enforcement officer veteran entered the political realm in 2018, when he unsuccessfully ran for Mesa City Council in District 4, finishing third. However, Scantlebury just barely missed the bar to move on to the November 6 election, falling 39 votes short of second place. He then challenged incumbent State Senator Tyler Pace in the August 2022 Primary Election, garnering more than double the votes for a shocking victory. Robert couldn’t defeat his Democrat opponent, though, losing to incumbent Eva Burch by five percent (just over three thousand votes).

According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, Legislative District 9 is likely one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread between Republicans and Democrats over the past nine statewide elections. Democrats are slightly favored in the district, having won the district in five of those nine elections.

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