An attorney with the state's largest law firm and a developer helped by her venture-capitalist father are ahead in campaign cash among eight candidates seeking an open council seat in central Phoenix.
Several other District 4 candidates have collected tens of thousands of dollars from donors, while one candidate hasn't yet filed any campaign finance reports. The district includes downtown, midtown and part of Maryvale.
Each in the diverse mix hopes to win the district's soon-to-be open seat and become the successor to veteran council member Laura Pastor, who was first elected in 2013 and is now term-limited. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, a runoff between the top two vote-getters would take place on March 9.
Voters
in the city's Districts 2, 6 and 8 will also see council candidates on their Nov. 3 ballots. Early voting began Oct. 7.
Running for office in the competitive District 4 race are Ed Hermes, Ashley Harder, Robb Olivieri, Michael Mazzocco, Megan Schmitz, Patricia Jimenez, Zachary Lauer and Cassandra Hernandez.
Here's who they are and who's supporting them:
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Ed Hermes?
Ed Hermes leads the pack with total donations of $316,139, and $231,096 in cash on hand as of June 30. He's the choice for many fellow lawyers of Snell & Wilmer LLP, the law firm where he works — 100 of them, to be exact, who together donated just under $60,000 to Hermes' campaign, online city records show. Hermes himself put in $29,000, plus another $4,114 from his school board campaign account. He's received over $20,000 from people outside of Arizona and over $32,000 from labor union PACs.
Top Snell & Wilmer lawyer Nick Wood, who donated the maximum contribution of $6,750 to Hermes, is listed as an "entrepreneur" on Hermes' annual report. Hermes acknowledged it was the same Nick Wood from the law firm.
Hermes said he realized he may need to recuse himself from time to time as matters represented by Snell & Wilmer come to the council. Lawyers from the firm, most often Wood, have brought general plan amendments, rezoning and development plans to the council more than a dozen times since 2021, Republic research shows. The council has voted twice this year on issues related to a disputed data center under construction in Ahwatukee that Wood represents.
Hermes has been active in politics and city policy for years. He served on Tempe's rental housing advisory board, worked under Gov. Janet Napolitano as a legislative liaison and as spokesperson for the state's Department of Agriculture.
He ran, unsuccessfully, for a spot on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2008, when he was 24. He's now in his second term as a member of the Osborn School District's governing board and has chaired Phoenix's Vision Zero Street Transportation Committee, an advisory board for the city's ambitious goal of reducing vehicle fatalities.
Hermes "grew up on a farm in rural Illinois and moved to Arizona as a kid," according to his campaign bio. He later attended Arizona State University, where he supported athletic teams as the mascot Sparky, graduating from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in 2013.
He told The Arizona Republic he's been a lifelong Democrat, but records sent to The Republic show he registered briefly as a Republican in 2002, then changed a few months later to "party not designated" before switching permanently to Democrat in 2003. He didn't respond to a request to comment about the change.
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Ashley Harder?
Ashley Harder has collected $273,364 for her campaign treasury so far, with $191,404 in cash on hand. She's her biggest donor with a $150,000 loan to her campaign. Only one PAC has donated to her, a national group that supports electing mothers to office. She's also received over $27,000 in out-of-state contributions, including the maximum $6,750 for an individual from her sister, Lauren, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and $6,650 from her father, Torrence Harder of Palm Beach, Florida.
Both Ashley and Lauren were inspired by their father to start development companies that restore historic homes and bolster communities. He helped Ashley Harder secure her company's first loan but then he "stepped back," wanting her to learn the ropes by herself, she wrote on Harder Development's website.
Her financial disclosure shows she is co-manager of a family trust and a trustee of one of Torrence Harder's trusts. He estimated in a 2025 blog post that businesses he founded or launched were valued at $5 billion.
Ashley Harder also became a director of Command Credit, which is partly owned by her father, when its headquarters moved from New York to Scottsdale in 2024. Her father incorporated Command Credit in 2024 and is chair of the board, according to a 2025 annual report on the Arizona Corporation Commission site.
Ashley Harder lists the position in her financial disclosure as a source of income and told The Republic she receives an annual salary of $30,000 as an "owner" of Command Credit, not an employee. Harder also received $6,000 in contributions from Command Credit's president, Ann Marie Smith of Scottsdale.
She's lived in Arizona since 2005, hoping to improve the place through art and neighborhood development. She's founded and helped run art galleries, partners with local artist Jim Covarrubias, and serves as a board member of the Downtown Phoenix Community Development Corporation. She's also a member and outspoken advocate of the LGBTQ community.
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Robb Olivieri?
Robb Olivieri has collected $104,535 in campaign contributions with $57,301 in cash on hand.
His notable contributors include Mark Naufel, the president of the University of Silicon Valley, who previously founded the Luminosity Lab at Arizona State University, a research and development program Olivieri now runs as its director. Donations from business leaders include $2,000 from Michael Cowley, who's the CEO of a company engaged in renovating Phoenix properties. Olivieri's received no PAC money. He's donated over $8,500 to his campaign.
Olivieri graduated in 2014 from Iona University, a private college in New Rochelle, New York, where he "lobbied on behalf of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.," his LinkedIn account states. He worked as director of alumni engagement for the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in Charlotte, North Carolina, until 2016 before moving to Arizona.
He worked at a small healthcare technology company in Scottsdale before joining the Luminosity Lab in 2018. The lab aims to turn research into products that "solve complex global challenges." He also serves as president of the Melrose Community Alliance.
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Megan Schmitz?
Megan Schmitz has raised $79,189 and has $39,079 in cash on hand. Her major contributors include Donald Brandt and his wife, Ginger, who each gave $6,750 to Schmitz.
Brandt is the former CEO of Arizona Public Service and its parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corp., and retired in 2019. Schmitz worked as his chief of staff during her six years at APS.
Schmitz, a consultant at Northland Strategies, previously worked as senior vice president at Horizon Strategies of Arizona, which was founded by former APS executive Jessica Pacheco and former Gilbert Mayor Jenn Daniels. Pacheco gave $2,500 to Schmitz's campaign. Schmitz's campaign form shows one PAC donation of $1,000 from the Cox AZ Political Action Committee.
Schmitz has the most direct experience with District 4's council position, having worked as a research analyst and chief of staff for more than eight years under Councilmembers Laura Pastor and Tom Simplot. She's been on numerous community boards including the Phoenix Women's Commission and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and served as chair for one-n-ten, an Arizona LGBTQ advocacy group.
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Michael Mazzocco?
Michael Mazzocco has received $73,751 in campaign contributions and had $16,633 in cash on hand. His donors include Virginia philanthropist Kathleen Burke Barrett, who gave $6,000 out of the $14,200 he received from out-of-state. He hasn't received PAC money and has given $205 to his own campaign.
Mazzocco owns an events-planning business, was the operating partner and president of The Herb Box Catering Company, and has worked as a faculty associate for Arizona State University, mentoring restaurant entrepreneurs.
He touts his service on "nearly a dozen boards and committees," including the gala committees of the Phoenix Children's Museum and Phoenix Symphony. He's vice-chair of the Phoenix Gay Men's Chorus and also on the Phoenix Police Department's LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, emphasizing his advocacy of LGBTQ issues.
Mazzocco told The Republic he's still in the race after his former campaign manager, Randy Clarke, leaked transcripts of recordings he'd made while chatting with Mazzocco that included unfiltered statements about his opponents and other people.
In a letter he sent to the other District 4 campaigns, which was obtained by The Republic, Clarke said he resigned on June 17 after poor treatment by Mazzocco. The candidate had responded to "honest feedback" by withholding work from him, Clarke wrote, and he "felt like punching me in the face." Mazzocco "went off" on Clarke on the phone a few days later, Clarke said in his letter, and Clarke quit when he felt the situation wasn't improving.
Mazzocco claimed to Clarke in one recording he was a better representative for the LGBTQ community than Harder or candidate Megan Schmitz. He described Hermes as a "privileged white man" who was "cosplaying Latino progressive" and kept "little brown kids" like "puppets" to follow him to events, Clarke's transcript states. Mazzocco also didn't like Hermes' campaign manager, who Mazzocco said he would be nice to in person but "behind the scenes, I want the (expletive deleted) shot down," according to Clarke.
The Republic asked Mazzocco if he made the statements as Clarke alleged. Mazzocco, in an email, replied: "Regarding the material that has circulated from private campaign conversations, I recognize that there are things I have said in candid moments that I would phrase differently with the benefit of reflection. I have reflected on those remarks, and my focus remains on the residents of District 4 and the issues that led me to enter this race."
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Patricia Jimenez?
Patricia Jimenez has raised $69,350 and had $35,442 in cash on hand. Don Luke, the president and CEO of Bill Luke vehicle dealerships, and his wife, Debra, chipped in a total of $13,300. Jimenez also put in $2,655 of her own money to the campaign.
Jimenez's contributions slowed considerably in the election cycle's most recent report, drawing in not quite $8,000 without any single donation of more than $500.
Jimenez is a real estate broker who's also running for another term on the governing board of the Isaac Elementary School District, on which she's served since 2003.
The school district is under state receivership after it spent millions of dollars the district didn't actually have. As board president, Jimenez was booed last year during a meeting in which she explained the district had spent $9 million over its budget because of "accounting errors that led to the late submission of a report required to receive federal pandemic relief funds."
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Zachary Lauer?
Zachary Lauer has collected $2,323 in total since last year and has $544 in cash on hand. His contributors include several local business owners and residents, and also $731 from out-of-state. He also threw in $100 of his own money.
Lauer's described himself as a "regular guy" in public meetings, noting he doesn't employ any staff members for the campaign.
Who is Phoenix District 4 council candidate Cassandra Hernandez?
Cassandra Hernandez hasn't yet filed a campaign finance form and didn't return calls or text messages.
Hernandez is the daughter of state Rep. Lydia Hernandez of Phoenix, who lost her Democratic primary race in July.
Voters put Cassandra Hernandez on the Cartwright Elementary School Governing Board in 2024 at age 19. But a court action over a state law designed to prevent nepotism on school boards prompted Cassandra Hernandez to resign. She's a hopeful social-media influencer who works at EoS Fitness.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who's backing Phoenix council candidates in crowded District 4 race?
