{"id":2945,"date":"2026-07-08T11:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2945"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T11:33:25","slug":"sparks-fly-at-scottsdale-city-council-debate-over-dark-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2945","title":{"rendered":"Sparks fly at Scottsdale City Council debate over \u2018dark money\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SCOTTSDALE, AZ \u2014 “I think your time is up,\u201d Scottsdale City Council incumbent candidate Solange Whithead told challenger Michelle Ugenti-Rita during a debate Tuesday at City Hall.<\/p>\n

Read more MOST ACCURATE FORECAST: Extreme Heat Warnings through Thursday in the Valley<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you want my time to be up because you don\u2019t like that I\u2019m calling you out,\u201d Ugenti-Rita shot back at her.<\/p>\n

It was one of several sharp exchanges between candidates as they compete for three council seats. The primary election is just two weeks away. A candidate has to receive the majority of the votes cast to win a seat outright in the July 21st<\/sup> primary.<\/p>\n

Candidates include incumbents Barry Graham and Solange Whitehead, and challengers Crystal Carroll, Raoul Zubia, Ethan Knowlden, Eric Sloan, Bob Littlefield and Michelle Ugenti-Rita.<\/p>\n

The debate touched on several key issues for the city of 243,000 people, including water concerns, overdevelopment, and whether the city council needs to be more civil.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no civility here, and there hasn\u2019t been in the 25 years I\u2019ve been involved,\u201d said candidate Bob Littlefield, who is a former councilman and running for a seat this year.<\/p>\n

Dark money quickly became a debate topic after financial reports filed last week<\/u> showed a political action committee called Better Together has funneled a quarter million dollars into the race so far.<\/p>\n

Records show Better Together is spending money to oppose Graham, Bob Littlefield and Ugenti-Rita. Records show Better Together has spent money supporting Whitehead and Sloan.<\/p>\n

Read more England sees off an immense challenge from Mexico in what may be the best game of the 2026 World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham repeatedly questioned whether Whitehead was going to condemn the spending, which is being funneled through a super PAC headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Records show Better Together spent $52,000 supporting Whitehead\u2019s re-election.<\/p>\n

Whitehead responded near the end of the debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI oppose dark money. I don\u2019t need dark money, and I didn\u2019t know about this PAC, and I didn\u2019t accept any support from this PAC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly every seat was filled for the debate, which was sponsored by Independent Newsmedia.<\/p>\n

“I was having a really difficult time trying to decide who to vote for on this council. It\u2019s very confusing this year,\u201d said Scottsdale resident Elizabeth Backie after the debate.<\/p>\n

She said she hasn\u2019t made up her mind yet. But watching the debate has helped her get closer to ultimately deciding.<\/p>\n

See where city council candidates stand on the issues.<\/u><\/p>\n

Email ABC15 Reporter Anne Ryman\u202fat\u00a0<\/i>anne.ryman@abc15.com<\/u>, call her at 602-685-6345, or\u00a0connect on X<\/u>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Spencer\u2019s Place in Surprise honored by Scripps Howard Fund<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sparks were flying Tuesday afternoon as candidates for the Scottsdale City Council debated the city’s issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scottsdale-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSparks fly at Scottsdale City Council debate over \u2018dark money\u2019 - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sparks fly at Scottsdale City Council debate over \u2018dark money\u2019 - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sparks were flying Tuesday afternoon as candidates for the Scottsdale City Council debated the city's issues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2945\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T11:33:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Sparks fly at Scottsdale City Council debate over \u2018dark money\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T11:33:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3684b105c1d2600078989e8ba637b085.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Scottsdale News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=2945\",\"name\":\"Sparks fly at Scottsdale City Council debate over \u2018dark money\u2019 - 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