Brent Whiting

Betty Guardado

The Phoenix City Council is in the midst of a shakeup more than a month after Kate Gallego was sworn in as the city’s new mayor.

Two seats were left open when she left her District 8 City Council seat to run for the office and District 5 Rep. Daniel Valenzuela left his seat to run against her. And now we're approaching a runoff election on May 21 to select the new council members who will fill both of those seats.

Betty Guardado is running for the District 5 seat — which encompasses much of West Phoenix, including the largely Latino area of Maryvale. Guardado is a union organizer for hospitality workers who worked her way up from being a housekeeper.

She’s running against Vania Guevara, who has been temporarily filling the seat since she was appointed by the City Council last summer.

Guardado said it’s her upbringing that led her to this point.

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