Mary Manross

Mary Manross
Mayor of Scottsdale
In office
June 2000 – September 2009
Preceded bySam Campana
Succeeded byJim Lane
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLarry Manross
Alma materUniversity of California at Los Angeles (BA)
Minot State University

Mary Manross is an American politician who served as the 10th Mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona. First elected in June 2000 until September of 2009, she served two terms and lost her campaign for a third term as mayor in the November 2008 runoff mayoral election to her opponent, former Certified Public Accountant and businessman and former city councilman Jim Lane.[1][2]

Education

Manross earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles and a teaching credential from Minot State University.[3][4]

Career

Before her election as councilwoman, Manross served on several city government commissions and in leadership positions for local charitable organizations, as well as being campaign manager for Mayor Herb Drinkwater's 1984 and 1988 mayoral campaigns.[5]

Manross served four terms on the Scottsdale city council from 1992 to 2000. Although the election and office of the mayor of Scottsdale is nonpartisan, Manross is a registered Democrat. Manross was endorsed by both the Democratic governor Janet Napolitano and the Republican Senator John McCain, and the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce as well as the Sierra Club. Prior to the challenge from Jim Lane, her party affiliation was not an impediment in the conservative, largely Republican city of Scottsdale.[6][7]

As mayor, Manross was instrumental in leading the city council to approve workplace protections for LGBT employees.[8]

State-mandated changes in the election calendar which moved the traditional spring city election to align with fall federal and state elections brought more partisan voters into play in the 2008 election. Manross lost to Republican Jim Lane by less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the vote.[9]

Election history

Scottsdale Mayoral General Election 2000
Candidate Votes %
Mark D. Bristow 3,841 11.58
Ross Dean 13,756 41.52
Merlin D. Gindlesperger 1,061 3.20
Mary Manross 14,301 43.13
Scottsdale Mayoral Runoff Election 2000
Candidate Votes %
Ross Dean 14,298 44.21
Mary Manross 17,964 55.55
Scottsdale Mayoral General Election 2004
Candidate Votes %
Cynthia Lukas 5,507 15.40
Mary Manross (Incumbent) 16,903 47.26
David Ortega 7,627 21.33
Bob Usdane 5,663 15.83
Scottsdale Mayoral Runoff Election 2004
Candidate Votes %
Mary Manross (Incumbent) 21,949 66.43
David Ortega 11,007 33.32
Scottsdale Mayoral General Election 2008
Candidate Votes %
Mary Manross (Incumbent) 16,986 49.44
Jim Lane 17,373 50.56

References

  1. ^ Jim Lane for Mayor official site
  2. ^ "City of Scottsdale - Mayor and City Council". www.scottsdaleaz.gov.
  3. ^ "City of Scottsdale official biography". Archived from the original on 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  4. ^ "Mayor Mary Manross".
  5. ^ "Mary Manross campaign official biography". Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  6. ^ Kathee Austin (June 26, 2008). "Scottsdale Chamber Political Action Committee Releases Mayoral and City Council Endorsements". East Valley Living. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013.
  7. ^ Brian Powell (May 20, 2007). "Before mayoral vote, Manross faces field of challengers". East Valley Tribune. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.
  8. ^ "Scottsdale passes workplace protections for LGBT city workers". advocate.com. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Manross concedes mayoral race to Lane". AZCentral.com. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 10 April 2015.