PHOENIX — The Phoenix area’s bluest city is getting even bluer.

Tempe voters shook up their City Council in this week’s runoff election.

Two progressive candidates ousted two incumbents. 

One of the victorious winning candidates was endorsed by his hero, Sen. Bernie Sanders. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a role model.

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The incoming council members – Brooke St. George and Bobby Nichols – are taking on issues shared by many cities. 

At the top of their list: a greater role for Tempe in helping people who are homeless. 

The issue has divided the city.

The City Council recently voted for a second time on restricting services for the homeless population.

Defeated Former Boss

St. George, now a tax associate for a tax accounting firm defeated her former boss to win a seat on the City Council.

“I felt that Tempe deserved, I’m just going to say, better leadership,” St. George said in an interview for this week’s “Square Off.”

“Tempe deserved … someone who would truly listen to the people and who was in it to serve the public.”

St. George’s former boss, Councilwoman Jennifer Adams, finished dead last in the four-person runoff election. St. George was first.

Adams recently ripped a council colleague as an “F—— b—-.”

“Having both Bobby and I in there is going to make it easier for us to find those allies on the issues that matter most to the voters,” St. George said.

St. George will join another newcomer on the six-member council – Assistant Attorney General Bobby Nichols.

Sanders, Mamdani Are Heroes

Nichols is a Democratic Socialist whose campaign got the blessing of his hero, Senator Bernie Sanders. 

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“I began my political campaigning career making calls for Bernie Sanders,” he said, “I’m actually getting goosebumps just thinking about it.” Nichols said in an interview.

The country’s most famous Democratic Socialist –  New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani – is another hero.

“Zohran represents a positive energy, a can-do attitude, and a focus on affordability politics that I’ve really tried to replicate in this campaign,” Nichols said.

If it were up to Nichols, would Tempe fund free buses and free day care?

“Absolutely,” he said.

“One of the big things on those two items, specifically public transit, has one of the highest investment-to-return rates in modern political history,” Nichols said.

Attacks By GOP Dark-Money Group

Both Nichols and St. George – who describes herself as a progressive – were attacked in lurid mailers funded by a Republican dark-money campaign. The mailers warned voters that  Nichols and St. George would turn Tempe “into a magnet for the homeless and crime.” 

“I knew that I was doing the right thing, and I was upsetting the right people,” Nichols said. 

Uniting Around Homeless Solutions

 St. George and Nichols are united on finding a new way for the city to serve the unhoused population. 

“We are going to need to make sure that we are providing necessary public services, specifically housing, through the housing first policy that has been used to effectively eliminate unsheltered homelessness in cities around the world,” Nichols said.

“We keep talking about how everyone needs to come to the table to help solve the unhoused issue, and yet there’s no table to come to,” St. George said. 

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“We look forward to creating that table.” 

The new City Council members will be sworn in on July 11.