With her mayoral horse out of the race, Paula Blackmon has announced her own candidacy this spring. The former chief of staff to Mayor Rawlings said Tuesday that she will run for the District 9 City Council seat.
That race opened up after current D9 Council member Mark Clayton said he’d step away after two terms. Tim sleuthed out D9 resident Paul Sims’ resignation from the Parks Board and subsequent confirmation that he’d run for the seat two weeks ago. Neither Sims nor Blackmon—nor anyone else, for that matter—has officially filed to run with the city.
Blackmon was the campaign manager for Larry Casto’s bid for Dallas mayor before Casto pulled out of the race on January 18, amid lackluster fundraising numbers and citing a desire to help the city in other ways.
In addition to her Rawlings connection, Blackmon served as deputy chief of staff to former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert and as a senior advisor to Mike Miles, former DISD superintendent. In a release, she says she’s focused on property tax stabilization, a healthy White Rock Lake, public safety, and “prioritizing D9 with partner agencies.”
