With the rankings unlikely to change, Friedman was positioned to become the first woman on the City Council since the late Ginger Bremberg stepped down in 2001.
“I’m kind of overwhelmed,” Friedman said. “It’s very humbling; it’s a little frightening.”
In a campaign where some challengers who relied on populist pledges to donate salaries to charity, roll back utility rates and slash city employee pay, the three winners touted their victories as an endorsement of issue-focused campaigning against over-the-top antics.
“I think the voters are pretty much satisfied with how Glendale is being run and administered, and I think it’s reflected in the vote,” Quintero said amid cheers and congratulations at his south Glendale campaign headquarters. “We still have a lot of work, but generally, Glendale’s in good shape.”
It was a campaign season in which political attacks and rumors — spurred largely in part by a more vocal group of City Hall critics and bloggers — sunk to an all-time low, candidates and observers said.
“I’m very proud and happy,” Friedman said at her election party at the downtown Embassy Suites late Tuesday night. “I look around this room and I see all these people, and it’s really about them.”
Friedman started campaigning months ahead of the other candidates, holding small meet-and-greets in residential living rooms throughout the city as early as October.
From there, the grass-roots momentum continued to build with support from Drayman and well-connected community leaders throughout the city.
As results from the mostly northern precincts of the city started to roll in, her standing steadily improved from fourth to first place.
