Thirty-eight Dallas residents filed for the 14 city council positions on the May 6 uniform election ballot, including all 14 incumbents. Three of those incumbents – Jennifer Staubach Gates, Sandy Greyson and Adam McGough – are unopposed. For Greyson, this is the third straight election she has run unopposed, and it is the second straight cycle that Gates has been unopposed.
Mayor Mike Rawlings was elected to a four-year term in 2015 and thus is not up for re-election this year.
Below we take a look at the candidates, concentrating on their prior service to city of Dallas boards and commissions and past campaigns. (Updated Feb. 24 to reflect the late rejection of one application.)
Place 1
Scott Griggs (Incumbent)
Stephen Winn. His campaign’s Facebook page provides no background information on the candidate. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Place 2
Adam Medrano (Incumbent)
Brian Ostrander, clinincal trial manager. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Place 3
Casey Thomas II (Incumbent)
Sandra Crenshaw, former one-term council member whose application is still pending. She served one term on the city council from 1993 to 1995.Ran unsuccessfully for P4 in 2015, receiving 13% of the vote to finish third out of eight candidates. Unsuccessfully ran for P8 in 2007, finishing third out of seven candidates with 15% of the vote, and 2001 (33%). Unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas) in the 2014 (43%) and 2016 (36%) Democratic primaries. She should have been ruled ineligible in 2014 because she had not lived in the district long enough, but the error was not caught until it was too late to remove her from the ballot.
Joe Lawrence Tave, educator. Lost the 2015 runoff election to Thomas by 186 votes, 53%-47%. Also ran unsuccessfully for the P3 seat in 2007 (6%).
City officials ultimately rejected Crenshaw’s application.
Place 4
Carolyn King Arnold (Incumbent)
Dwaine Caraway, former four-term P4 council member who was prevented from running in 2015 by the city’s term limits ordinance. Ran unsuccessfully against Dallas Co. Comm. John Wiley Price in the 2016 Democratic primary, receiving 23% to finish second out of four candidates.
Place 5
Rick Callahan (Incumbent)
Dominique Torres, attorney. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Place 6
Monica Alonzo (Incumbent)
Tony Carrillo, auto parts store employee. Appears to be making his first run for public office.
Gil Cerda, former Dallas Police Dept. spokesperson and president of Latino Peace Officers Assoc. of Greater Dallas. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Alex S. Dickey. We were unable to find information on this candidate.
Omar Narvaez, at-large Dallas Co. School Board trustee since 2014 and former Stonewall Democrats president. Narvaez has been endorsed by council member Philip Kingston.
Linus Spiller, grant administrator. Likely the same Linus Spiller who ran unsuccessfully for the P6 seat in in 2005, receiving 19% of the vote, and 2003 (7%). Ran unsuccessfully for Dallas ISD trustee in 2006 (26%) and 2009 (4%).
The application of Patricia Luckey Jones was rejected.
Place 7
Tiffinni Young (Incumbent)
Adam Bazaldua, chef and educator. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Marvin Crenshaw, political activist and frequent candidate. Was one of the plaintiffs in the long legal battle that resulted in the adoption of the current 14-1 representation plan in 1991, in which case he has made several unsuccessful races for the council (1999, 2001, 2003 and 2009, likely some prior-year races).
Kevin Felder, real estate broker. Lost the 2015 runoff to Young, 55%-45%, after narrowly coming in second in the uniform election with 14% of the vote, 23 votes ahead of third-place finisher.
Tammy Johnston, businesswoman and founder of Greater Communities of Fair Park. Appears to be making first run for public office.
James “JT” Turknett, pastor, radio host and former aide to U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas). Ran unsuccessfully for P7 in 2015, receiving 74 votes to finish last out of eight candidates.
Place 8
Erik Wilson (Incumbent)
Tennell Atkins, former P8 council member who was prevented from running in 2015 by the city’s term limits ordinance.
Moctezuma Seth Gonzalez, scientist. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Gail Terrell. Just missed runoff in 2015 race for P8 with 23% of the vote. She was in second after early voting but slipped into third after Election Day results were tallied.
Eric Williams, filmmaker. Ran unsuccessfully for the P8 seat in 2015, receiving 5% of the vote to finish last out of six candidates.
Place 9
Mark Clayton (Incumbent)
Arthur Adams Jr. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Place 10
Adam McGough (Incumbent)
Place 11
Lee Kleinman (Incumbent)
Mary Candace Evans, real estate blogger. Appears to be making first run for public office.
Place 12
Sandy Greyson (Incumbent)
Place 13
Jennifer Staubach Gates (Incumbent)
Place 14
Philip Kingston (Incumbent)
Kim Welch, marketing. Appears to be making his first run for public office.
Matt Wood, attorney. Appears to be making his first fun for public office.
