In the Arizona Legislative District 28 race, two current Town of Paradise Valley Council members are running of the Arizona House of Representatives, Maria Syms and Mary Hamway. Both are Republicans. There is one Democrat in the race, Kelli Butler. You might think that the two council colleagues, both members of the same party, would run as a team. In this case, you would be wrong. Maria Syms wants to win so badly, she has asked independent expenditure committees to put out negative mailers on Mary Hamway, and has stood up in Republican gatherings, asking voters to use a “single shot” vote for her on the ballot, leaving Mary Hamway’s name out. Syms’ stooge, pretending to be acting independently, by the way, is former Council Member, Jini Simpson. This is the same Maria Syms who dragged the town through the mud with the most negative campaign for mayor in the town’s history. The only endorsements Syms has from town council members are courtesy endorsements that went to both Syms and Hamway. Former mayors and council members have all endorsed Hamway, but not Syms --- the notable exception being former member Jini Simpson. The reason for the overwhelming support from colleagues favoring Hamway is she does hard work and looks out for the community first. Syms is only interested in Syms. She has not distinguished herself on the council. When Syms decided to run for the Legislature, she called the public relations agency handling Hamway’s campaign, and offered more money if they would drop Hamway as a client, and represent Syms instead. Syms didn’t even give Hamway the courtesy of a phone call before entering the race, which Hamway had entered months earlier, with notice to all on the council. In other words, Syms would stab you in the back to get ahead, at the expense of her party and community. If this is the kind of representative you want, watching out for herself, rather than for you, in the legislature, that’s up to you. I won’t vote for her. Editor's note: Mr. O'Connor is a resident of the Town of Paradise Valley