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Endorses Goforth
The race
District 5 covers northeast Mesa. In the July 21 primary, incumbent Alicia Goforth finished first with about 34% of the vote and Aleks Vranicic second with nearly 27%, per azcentral and the city's official canvass. Because no candidate won a majority, the top two advance to this November 3, 2026 runoff — a head-to-head race, so one of them necessarily wins a majority this time. Mesa's District 4 (Nick Willis) and District 6 (Scott Somers) races were decided in the primary and are not on the November ballot.
The verified roster is: Alicia Goforth and Aleks Vranicic.
The candidates
Alicia Goforth (incumbent) was elected in 2022 without a challenger and began her first term in January 2023, per azcentral and a February 2026 district profile. She is a corporate lawyer — previously at Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP and later in-house counsel for Cerner Corporation (Oracle Cerner), admitted in Arizona, Missouri, and Kansas — and an 18-year Mesa resident. On the council she serves as chair of the Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee and sits on the Economic Development and Sustainability & Transportation committees. Her campaign centers on public safety and quality of life, fiscal responsibility in city government, and strengthening the economy, per azcentral.
Aleks Vranicic is a cosmetic consultant and contractor, per azcentral. He is running on government accountability and transparency about city finances: his website pledges to make government budgeting documents easy to access and "reduce backroom decision making." Council meeting minutes show he has frequently appeared to oppose utility rate hikes, to oppose Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, and to support the city's 287(g) agreement with the federal government on immigration. At a November 2025 council meeting he accused the council of ignoring residents who rallied against a utility rate increase: "You didn't even throw us a bone. Not even one of you voted with the people." He also pushes fixing traffic in the Las Sendas and Red Mountain Ranch neighborhoods near the Power Road exit off Loop 202. State Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, vouches that Vranicic "stands up for conservative family values," per azcentral, which frames the runoff as a contest between competing brands of conservatism. After the primary, Vranicic argued the result was a referendum against the incumbent: "Based on the current results, 65% of voters chose someone other than the incumbent."
Pros / Cons
- Goforth — Pro: She chairs the council's Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee — the fiscal-oversight seat — while running on public safety, fiscal responsibility, and economic growth, with a corporate-law career behind her. That is a governing record in the exact disciplines this office exercises. Con: The primary math is a real warning: two-thirds of primary voters chose someone else, and her 2022 election was unopposed, so this is the first time district voters have had a choice about her.
- Vranicic — Pro: A documented, years-long record of showing up — opposing utility rate hikes and DEI programs and backing the 287(g) immigration-enforcement agreement in public comment — plus a specific transparency pledge on budget documents. He is not a paper candidate. Con: Public comment is not governing; he has never held the budget pen, and his campaign did not respond to azcentral's interview requests for its runoff profile, which sits oddly next to a transparency platform.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse Alicia Goforth.
The basis is stated and sourced: the incumbent chairs the Audit, Finance & Enterprise Committee — fiscal oversight is not her promise, it is her current job — and she runs on public safety and fiscally responsible government with a corporate-finance legal career behind those words. Limited government is served by the official who audits the books, and Goforth holds that gavel today. Vranicic's attendance record at council meetings is genuinely to his credit, and his rate-hike opposition is the right instinct; if he wins, we will hold him to his transparency pledge line by line. But a challenger who would not sit for the newspaper's interview in a transparency campaign has not yet earned the seat from an incumbent doing the fiscal work.
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
- azcentral, "Metro Phoenix council, mayor candidates running in 2026 election" (Sep. 29, 2026) — both candidates' backgrounds and campaign centers — https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/metro-phoenix/2026/09/29/phoenix-mesa-scottsdale-peoria-city-council-candidates/91780642007/
- azcentral, "Mesa council District 5 runoff tests competing brands of conservatism" (Oct. 17, 2026) — Vranicic's meeting record, pledges, and endorsements; the race's framing — https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/17/mesa-district-5-council-race-highlights-partisanship-local-elections/92282785007/
- azcentral, "Goforth heads to runoff in key Mesa council election" (Jul. 21, 2026) — primary results (Goforth ~34%, Vranicic ~27%) and both candidates' statements — https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2026/07/21/mesa-arizona-primary-election-results/90905711007/
- City of Mesa official canvass resolution (Aug. 10, 2026) — District 5 runoff certification; Districts 4 and 6 decided in the primary
- City of Mesa Publicity Pamphlet, 2026 General Election (Maricopa County Elections) — certified runoff roster
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.