From 2009 to 2011, Stanton served as Deputy Attorney General of Arizona, under Attorney General Terry Goddard.[7]
He helped cut off funding for the cartels who were trafficking people and drugs, fought against the predatory payday lending industry, helped to eliminating mortgage fraud and negotiated a settlement to protect the future of Luke Air Force Base.[8]
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.[9] Stanton opposed the embezzlement prosecution of Shields and fired her in October 2010.[10]
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%.[11][12][13]
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.[15] Stanton resigned on May 29, 2018, to run for Congress.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18]
In an interview a few weeks after the November 2011 mayoral election, Stanton stated his support for repealing the city food tax.[25] He also supported public pension reforms, including more employee contributions to their retirement funds and longer work experience before retirement benefits.[25] 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.[26]
Stanton opposed the 2022 overturning ofRoe v. Wade, calling it "a dark, dark day for our country" and saying the Supreme Court had an "extreme, ideological agenda".[29]
Stanton is married to Nicole Stanton, an attorney for a cannabis company.[32] They married in 2005 and have two children.[33] They separated in 2016 but were back together by 2019.[34][33]
Stanton is Catholic.[35]
