Greg Stanton

Stanton was born in Long Island, New York. His family moved to Arizona and he graduated from Cortez High School of west Phoenix in 1988.[2][3] He then attended Marquette University and graduated in 1992 with a B.A. in history and political science and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1995, Stanton earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Stanton then worked as an education attorney from 1995 to 2000.[2] In 2014, Stanton became an adjunct professor at Arizona Summit Law School.[4]

Stanton was elected to the Phoenix City Council for 6th district in 2000, 2001, and 2005 and served the district until 2009.[2] This district included the affluent Phoenix Biltmore Area centered around the Biltmore Fashion Park and Arcadia areas, as well as non-contiguous Ahwatukee.[5]

Greg Stanton briefs reporters at a press conference at City Hall.

During his 2011 campaign for mayor, questions arose of the legality of near $70,000 in contributions from Stanton's former treasurer Mindy Shields.[6] Stanton opposed the embezzlement prosecution of Shields and fired her in October 2010.[7]

On August 30, 2011, Stanton and Republican candidate Wes Gullett were the top two candidates in the Phoenix mayoral primary, with Stanton getting about 38% of the vote and Gullett 20%.[8][9][10]

Stanton advocated against the 2013 federal budget sequestration by meeting with members of Congress multiple times.[11]

Stanton was re-elected on August 25, 2015. In 2017, Governing magazine named Stanton one of its Public Officials of the Year for his efforts to expand light rail, bike lanes, and sidewalks while reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions.[12]

In an interview a few weeks after the November 2011 election, Stanton stated his support for repealing the city food tax.[17] Stanton also supported public pension reforms including more employee contributions to their own retirement funds and longer work experience before retirement benefits.[17] However, in March 2013, Stanton decided against repealing the food tax due to projections that ending the tax would cause layoffs of nearly 99 police officers and 300 other city employees.[18]

As a Representative, Stanton supported the Equality Act, a bill that would expand the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.[19]

On October 1, 2020, Stanton co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that condemned Azerbaijan’s offensive operations against the Armenian-populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, denounced Turkey’s role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and called for an immediate ceasefire.[20]

Greg Stanton is married to Nicole Stanton, an attorney. The couple were introduced through a mutual friend. They married in 2005. They have two children.[23] In 2016, the couple separated.[24] As of 2019, they were together again.[23]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greg Stanton.

• Congressman Greg Stanton official U.S. House website
• Greg Stanton for Congress campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN