Casey Newton
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 18, 2008 11:53 AM

How big an underdog was Michael Nowakowski?

On election night in November, the city's public information office already had a press release ready to go announcing the victory of Laura Pastor, his opponent for the District 7 City Council seat.

Pastor had a famous name, the support of her congressman father and had raised significantly more money.

Then the early numbers came in, showing Nowakowski winning decisively. The city tore up its release and wrote a new one.

Now comes the hard part - governing a diverse district that is the fastest-growing part of Phoenix. After his first week in office, Nowakowski talked with The Republic about what it feels like to be a councilman and his plans for the next four years. 

read the interview at azcentral.com