Scott Smith (Arizona politician)

Born in 1956, Smith spent his early childhood in Tucson, Arizona.

His first attempt at public office, Smith was the first person since 1966 to be elected mayor of Mesa without having first served on the Mesa City Council.

In 1967, Smith moved with his family to Mesa, after his father assumed the role of superintendent of Mesa Public Schools.

Smith was a star basketball player at Westwood High School and graduated in 1974.

Smith is a Mormon and obtained his a B.S. degree in accounting in Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management in 1980.

Al Brooks was successful in 1983 and Willie Wong was successful in 1991.

Smith subsequently attended Arizona State University where he obtained an MBA in 1985.

Between 1988 and 1993 he was an accounting and finance instructor at the University of Phoenix.

He held leadership roles in home building companies: from 1994 to 2003 he was president of Great Western Homes.

In 1996, Smith received his Juris Doctor degree from the Arizona State University College of Law.

Prior to his time in office, Smith held various professional positions.

Great Western was acquired by Hovnanian Enterprises in 2003.

From 2003 to 2007, Smith was a regional president for K. Hovnanian Homes.

Before and during the time that he held these aforementioned positions he was active as a financial and business consultant at ExecuShare, Ltd. Smith also held a variety of quasi-public roles, such as the 2006–07 campaign chairman for the Mesa United Way and as a member of the citizens tax initiative committee.

Smith launched his campaign for mayor on May 1, 2007, with former U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon as his campaign chairman.

Incumbent Keno Hawker was term limited.

The primary election had two other candidates: restaurant businessman/three term city councilman Rex Griswold and vice-mayor/two term city councilwoman Claudia Walters.

Smith ranked first with 39% of the vote, qualifying for the run-off election.

Griswold ranked second with 33% of the vote and Walters was last with 28% of the vote.

Walters endorsed Smith.

In the May run-off election, Smith defeated Griswold 56%–44%.

It was the first time that a candidate defeated someone who had resigned from the city council to run for mayor in more than a generation.

Scott Smith (born 1956) is an American businessman and politician, elected as the 38th mayor of Mesa, Arizona, on May 20, 2008.

He took office on June 2, 2008 and served until April 16, 2014, when he resigned to run for Governor of Arizona in the Republican Primary.

Smith's first term of office ran from June 2, 2008 to January 22, 2013.

Mesa, which is in Maricopa County, Arizona, along with Phoenix, is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

On August 6, 2008, after two months as mayor, Smith served as ceremonial driver for the first run of METRO Light Rail, a new light rail transit for Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe.

The 20 mi light rail system had its grand opening on December 27, 2008.

In March 2009, Smith advocated for a development deal to bring a 1,200 room Gaylord Hotel and Resort to the Mesa Proving Grounds.

Proposition 300, passed by the largest margin in the history of the city with 84% of voters approving.

It is the thirty-ninth most populous city in the United States and the third most populous city in the state of Arizona (after Phoenix and Tucson) according to 2010 United States Census Bureau estimates.

It is the largest of seven incorporated areas with populations of 100,000 or more (followed by Glendale, Chandler, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe and Peoria) that surround Phoenix in its metropolitan area.

In November 2011, Proposition 420 proposed an incentive package that would build the Chicago Cubs a new spring training facility.

The Cubs, who had trained in Mesa for over 50 years, had offers to move their operations to Naples, Florida.

Proposition 420 pass with 63% of the vote.

In August 2011, it was reported that the Arizona State University baseball team would join the Cubs and move their facilities to the new stadium upon completion instead of renovating Packard Stadium, however they later moved to Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

In 2013–14, he was president of the United States Conference of Mayors.

He was previously president of both Great Western Homes and K. Hovnanian Homes.

He has also worked in finance and as a business consultant.

Renderings of the planned stadium, and accompanying "Wrigleyville West" entertainment district were released prior to the election and it was expected that the stadium would be complete by the 2014 spring training season.