Friday was the deadline for candidates to file for the May 1 general election.
Arlington: Eight people filed to succeed term-limited Mayor Jeff Williams including council member Marvin Sutton (D3) and former council member Michael Glaspie.
Beaumont: Five candidates filed to succeed Mayor Becky Ames including council members Robin Mouton (W4) and W.L. Pate Jr. (At-large). Ames, who has served as mayor since 2007, did not seek re-election.
Dallas: A total of 57 people filed for the 14 council districts. All 11 incumbents seeking re-election drew challengers:
- Chad West (D1) faces three challengers, including Gio Valderas, who received 35% of the vote in a 2019 race for the seat.
- Casey Thomas II (D3) faces a single first-time candidate.
- Carolyn King Arnold (D4) faces four challengers, none of whom have run for the seat before.
- Jaime Resendez (D5) faces 2019 opponents Ruth Torres (11%) and Faye Williams (37%) and another candidate. Williams also sought the seat in 2005 (24%), 2007 (8%) and 2013 (16%).
- Omar Narvaez (D6) faces rematches, for the second time, against former council member Monica Alonzo and Tony Carrillo. Narvaez ousted Alonzo in the 2017 runoff, 56%-44%, and defeated her, 59%-33%, in their first rematch in 2019. Carrillo also ran in 2017 (2%) and 2019 (8%). Two other candidates are in the race.
- Adam Bazaldua (D7) faces a second rematch against former council member Kevin Felder. Bazaldua failed to make the runoff in 2017, finishing fourth out of six with 14% of the vote. Felder failed to make the runoff in 2019, also finishing fourth. Also in the race are former candidates Calvin Johnson, who received 8% of the vote in 2019, and J.T. Turknett, who rain in 2015 (2%) and 2017 (3%). Four other challengers are making their first runs for the council.
- Tennell Atkins (D8) faces three challengers, including a rematch against Subrina Lynn Brenham, who ran unsuccessfully against him in 2013 (30%) and again for his open seat in 2015 (8%). Atkins’s two other challengers have previously run for council in other districts.
- Paula Blackmon (D9) faces two challengers.
- Adam McGough (D10) faces a rematch against Sirrano Keith Baldeo, who received 3% of the vote in 2019.
- Cara Mendelsohn (D12) faces a single challenger.
- David Blewett (D14) faces two challengers.
Council members Jennifer Staubach Gates (D13), Lee Kleinman (D11) and Adam Medrano (D2) are term-limited. Mayor Eric Johnson is serving a four-year term that is not up for re-election until 2023.
Fort Worth: A total of 57 people filed for mayor and city council, the most candidates in recent history. Council members Brian Byrd and Ann Zadeh, non-profit executive Mattie Parker, Tarrant Co. Democratic chair Deborah Peoples and six others filed to succeed Mayor Betsy Price, who did not seek re-election.
The three open council seats – Byrd’s D3, Zadeh’s D9 and Dennis Shingleton’s D7 – drew eight, eight and 10 candidates, respectively. All races could go to runoffs except for D6, where incumbent council member Jungus Jordan faces a single challenger.
Over the last decade, turnout for the city’s election has hovered around 10% of registered voters.
McAllen: Six candidates filed to succeed Mayor Jim Darling including council members Javier Villalobos and Veronica Whitacre. Darling did not seek re-election.
Plano: Council member Lily Bao filed for a second bid for mayor. She unsuccessfully challenged Mayor Harry LaRosiliere in 2017 (42%). LaRosiliere is term-limited. She faces John Muns and Lydia Ortega. Three incumbent council members – Kayci Prince (P4), Anthony Ricciardelli (P2) and Rick Smith (P8) – drew challengers. Filing continues for the special election for Place 7.
San Angelo: Mayor Brenda Gunter drew a couple of final week filers, realtor Silvara Lawson and Dietrick Tillis.
San Antonio: Mayor Ron Nirenberg faces 13 challengers, including former council member Greg Brockhouse in a rematch of the 2019 mayoral runoff. Two years ago, no candidate other than Nirenberg and Brockhouse received more than 1.6% of the vote, but they collectively forced a runoff. Three of those individuals – Tim Atwood (1.0%), Tony Diaz (1.1%) and Michael “Commander” Idrogo (0.4%) – filed this year. Idrogo is making his 11th consecutive bid for mayor.
Seven of eight council incumbents seeking re-election face one or more opponents:
- Roberto Treviño (D1) faces five challengers, three fewer than the number of candidates he defeated outright in 2019
- Jada Andrews-Sullivan (D2) faces 10 challengers including Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, her former communications director; Black Lives Matter organizer Pharaoh Clark; Kristi Villanueva, president of the West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce; and Dori Brown, a former aide to the late Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antionio) who finished fourth in a 2017 bid for the seat. Former Mayor Ivy Taylor was the last person re-elected to this council position (2013).
- Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) faces three challengers.
- Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) faces two challengers.
- Manny Pelaez (D8) faces three challengers.
- John Courage (D9) faces four challengers including his 2019 runoff opponent Patrick Von Dohlen.
- Clayton Perry (D10) faces four challegers including Ezra Johnson, the vice chair of VIA Metropolitan Transit who lost a runoff to Perry in 2017.
Council member Ana Sandoval (D7) is unopposed. Council members Renecca Viagran (D3) and Shirley Gonzales (D5) are term-limited. Ten filed to succeed Viagran, including her sister Phyllis and former Rep. Tomas Uresti (D-San Antonio). The field to succeed Gonzales has 11 candidates including Jason Mata, who unsuccessfully ran for CD35 in 2020 as an independent (2%).
