← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Arizona
Our call — see the breakdown
The race
Decided earlier — Buckeye's three 2026 council races (Districts 4, 5, and 6) were all settled at the July 21, 2026 primary; Buckeye holds no November 3 candidate race. District 4 was the one contested fight: incumbent G. Patrick HagEstad defeated challenger Pamela Croff with about 55% of the vote in the tallies InBuckeye reported after the primary (2,316 votes to 1,872 in its updated count). In District 5, James P. Subjack ran unopposed (1,353 votes reported) and succeeds Craig Heustis, who chose not to seek re-election after five terms on the council. In District 6, incumbent Clay Goodman ran unopposed (3,170 votes reported). Terms run to 2030.
The candidates
G. Patrick HagEstad — District 4, re-elected. First elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022; managing partner of HagEstad Law Group, PLC. He was one of the candidates who did not reply to the Arizona Republic's Q&A invitation before the primary — a documented gap in voter-facing engagement, weighed against a win his district delivered anyway.
Pamela Croff — District 4 challenger, defeated. Born and raised in Buckeye, a mother of four, and employed in the swimming-pool construction industry. Her Republic Q&A set out a real platform: public safety ("residents should feel safe in their own neighborhoods"), infrastructure that keeps up with growth, economic opportunity, transparent government, and weighing how development affects roads, water, and safety before approving it. That is a substantive losing campaign — the kind of record that belongs in the ledger even in defeat.
James P. Subjack — District 5, elected unopposed. The incoming member for the seat Heustis held for five terms. Croff-style Q&A material for Subjack was not in the sources worked; his record starts with his term.
Clay Goodman — District 6, re-elected unopposed. Appointed to the council in June 2020 and elected in 2022. InBuckeye's profile documents a deep institutional résumé: retired as a training manager at Arizona Public Service, and 25 years at Estrella Mountain Community College including service as vice president of occupational education, vice president of administrative services, and interim president.
Pros and cons
- HagEstad — Pro: Two prior election wins and a third delivered by his district — incumbency ratified in a contested race. Con: Declining the Republic's Q&A is a documented refusal to answer voters' questions in the valley's paper of record; his voters re-elected him without that record.
- Croff (lost) — Pro: The only candidate in these three races who put a full issue platform in front of voters via the Q&A. Con: Forty-four percent is a strong showing, not a win.
- Goodman — Pro: The deepest administrative résumé on the dais (utility training management; community-college vice presidencies) in one of the fastest-growing cities in America. Con: Unopposed — untested this cycle.
- Subjack — Pro: Stepped up for an open seat nobody else filed for. Con: No documented platform in the sources worked.
OUR CALL
Our call: no November call — decided July 21, 2026; we record the outcome. HagEstad, Subjack, and Goodman hold Districts 4, 5, and 6. The one real contest produced a clear result, and the two uncontested seats are recorded as what they are.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources
- InBuckeye, "Early primary results show Buckeye voters backing familiar faces" and updated tallies (July 21–22, 2026) — HagEstad defeating Croff in District 4 (2,316 to 1,872 in the updated count, 55.16% to 44.58%); Subjack unopposed in District 5 (1,353); Goodman unopposed in District 6 (3,170); Heustis not seeking re-election after five terms — https://inbuckeye.com/election/early-primary-results-show-buckeye-voters-backing-familiar-faces/
- InBuckeye, candidate profile: Clay Goodman (2022) — appointed June 2020, elected 2022; retired APS training manager; 25 years at Estrella Mountain Community College in leadership roles — https://inbuckeye.com/buckeye-elections/clay-goodman/
- Arizona Republic candidate Q&A (2026) — Croff biography (Buckeye native, mother of four, pool-construction industry) and her platform on public safety, infrastructure, economic opportunity, transparency, and development impacts; HagEstad did not reply — via azcentral.com
- azcentral, "Who is on the Buckeye City Council in 2026?" (2026) — HagEstad first elected 2018, re-elected 2022; managing partner, HagEstad Law Group — https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/southwest-valley/2026/05/12/buckeye-city-council-2026/89036806007/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.