Kate Gallego

Title: MayorIndustry: GovernmentNotable in 2024: Mayor Gallego helped secure a $65 billion investment from Taiwan Semiconductor to produce advanced chips in Phoenix, generating thousands of new jobs for the city.

Politicians like to think in terms of the mandates that voters give them through election results. In Phoenix, the population of the nation's fifth-largest, and fastest-growing, city gave Mayor Kate Gallego a strong one when she was reelected last November to her third term, easily beating a Republican challenger.

As one of only two women ever to serve as Phoenix mayor, and one of the youngest major city leaders in the U.S., the trust Gallego has earned is notable given the complex set of challenges that the desert city faces, from extreme heat to water shortages, and a climate crisis set against the need to manage a boom town that is attracting a ton of new business, particularly in tech and life sciences.

Gallego describes herself as "pragmatic progressive," with a philosophy that has evolved from a bachelor's degree in environmental science and public policy at Harvard, through a Wharton MBA, a position as an economic development staffer at water and power utility Salt River Project, and four years on the Phoenix City Council.

On an urban landscape that has become a living laboratory for how major population centers survive and thrive – summer days in Phoenix are now regularly 110 degrees or above – Gallego faces a perennial fight over water rights on the Colorado River, as well as a state legislature that doesn't see eye-to-eye with the Democratic mayor on budget priorities.

Gallego thinks like a business leader. "We have to be innovative," she told CBS's "Face the Nation" in 2023 amid a record July heat wave.

From mobile cooling units for first responders to IVs that can "cool people from the inside," and "cool pavement" programs and "shade plans" for city infrastructure, Gallego is not just running a city, but reimagining it for resilience. "We are a desert community. And we take that into account when we make any decisions about development," she told CBS.

At the beginning of this year, Gallego was named to head a group of 350 mayors, Climate Mayors, which address climate change response nationally.

The urban development continues to come fast, with a flood of private sector investment into Phoenix. Amazon Prime drones and Waymo self-driving taxis are among the recent experiments in the city that show how it has become a hotbed for the hottest in tech.

The biggest deal of all is the $65 billion investment from Taiwan Semiconductor to bring advanced chip manufacturing operations to the city, and thousands of jobs with the project, a major part of the onshoring initiative begun under the Biden administration to secure the nation's supply of the key technology.

But the big wins in tech also bring concerns about scarcity issues, with business growth including data centers sucking up more water and electricity. Gallego told the Arizona Republic in an interview near the end of her last term that TMSC has been an advocate for more renewable energy and the manufacturing of more efficient chips. And for every potential hurdle in natural resource usage, Gallego says the flip side must be considered: "What are the jobs of the future we want in our community?"

The three TSMC chip fabs are expected to employ 6,000 people, but TMSC has cited many complex challenges ahead of reaching full capacity, from costs of operating in the U.S., to supply chain issues, permitting requirements, and labor shortages. Gallego calls herself a "numbers person" and has pointed to community college programs now offering certificates in semiconductors, as well as apprenticeship programs offered by TSMC. But she acknowledges the magnitude of the worker issue, and the stakes. "We know we have to turn it up so that we can deliver not just for Arizona but for the world," she told CBS.

Gallego, who has noted in interviews she was helping her mother through cancer treatments during her first mayoral election campaign, has been a key advocate for bringing more medical institutions and life sciences businesses to the city. The city is currently working with Arizona State University to build a new medical school in downtown Phoenix on land originally slated for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.

With a population over 1.6 million, Gallego faces constant questions about managing all the growth while addressing public needs, including housing shortages, but she told local publication AZCentral, "I don't think population is the important metric. It's how and where (we grow)."

This term will be Gallego's last as mayor, but she made clear in an interview with a local ABC station that it's full speed ahead. "We don't want to rest," she said.