More than a third of 1,003 voters (344 votes) would appoint former vice mayor Brent Murphree to the open city council position. Tied with the second-most votes (212), representing 21 percent of the respondents each, were Ellen Buddington and Rosalin Sanhadja. Former councilman Carl Diedrich received twenty percent (199). A distant fifth was Brad Hinton (14), followed by Wade Beckstead (12), and Dan Frank (10).
The city council is expected to interview candidates at a special meeting in June.
Visit InMaricopa.com’s homepage to answer this week’s new poll question: Will or have you attended a graduation ceremony this month?
![Maricopa Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kelly Anderson grills incumbent Mayor Nancy Smith in election's first campaign event April 30, 2024, at Southern Dunes Golf Club. [Elias Weiss]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CRM_1009-218x150.jpg "In mayoral race, it’s the Nancy Smith show")
![City Manager Ben Bitter speaks during a Chamber of Commerce event at Global Water Resources on April 11, 2024. Bitter discussed the current state of economic development in Maricopa, as well as hinting at lowering property tax rates again. [Monica D. Spencer]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/spencer-041124-ben-bitter-chamber-property-taxes-web-218x150.jpg "City gave new manager big low-interest home loan")
![Vice Mayor Amber Liermann and Councilmember Eric Goettl review parts of the city's 2024 operational budget with Mayor Nancy Smith on April 24, 2024. [Monica D. Spencer]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/spencer-042424-preliminary-budget-meeting-web-218x150.jpg "3 things to know about the new city budget")
![An image of one of 56 elevation renderings submitted to Maricopa's planning department for the Elena Trails subdivison. The developer plans to construct 14 different floor plans, with four elevation styles per plan. [City of Maricopa]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/city-041724-elena-trails-rendering-218x150.jpg "Elena Trails releases home renderings")
![[Namkeen Dhaba]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/439456716_377105198650519_7536248579664805896_n-218x150.jpg "Maricopa restaurateur makes Food Network connection")
![An exterior view of O'Reilly Auto Parts on John Wayne Parkway on May 2, 2024.[Monica D. Spencer]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/spencer-050224-oreilly-second-location-web-100x70.jpg "O’Reilly gears up for second Maricopa location")
![Tom Schuman, a Province resident, poses with a copy of his new book, "My Wide World of Sports," outside his home on May 2, 2024. [Monica D. Spencer]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/spencer-050224-tom-schuman-sports-book-web-01-100x70.jpg "Province writer opens the athlete’s mind in new book")
