Giuliano began his political career as a city council member, elected in May 1990, and was appointed vice-mayor of Tempe, Arizona for 1992–94. He was elected mayor of Tempe four times, serving from 1994 to 2004; the first three terms were two-years each, the fourth was for four years. After he first came out as gay in August 1996, political opponents tried to initiate a recall election to remove him from office, but that effort failed. Following a controversy over city funds being directed to the Boy Scouts of America in 2000, a successful recall effort proceeded to the ballot. The recall election was held on September 11, 2001. Giuliano won in a landslide, defeating a campaign that was called "blatantly homophobic". He also co-chaired the planning the third debate of the 2004 United States presidential elections. Upon retiring from elected office in 2004 and a 24-year career at Arizona State University in 2005, where he served as director of federal relations among other positions, Giuliano received praise from Senator John McCain and then-Governor Janet Napolitano. In 2008, Giuliano changed his registration from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and The Arizona Republic reported that he has considered running for governor of Arizona in 2010 as a Democrat but he declined to run. In 2014, it was again speculated that he would run for governor, but he instead endorsed Fred DuVal for the Democratic nomination.
