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Dallas Mayoral Poll Week Three: The Socialists Are Gaming Our Poll

Alyson Kennedy is back in a big way. Hm.
By Shawn Shinneman |
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It’s possible—OK, probable—that someone is gaming our numbers.

How else do you explain socialist candidate Alyson Kennedy’s sudden bump up to second place from last? Or Jason Villalba’s 18x increase in popularity? Or Albert Black nearly doubling his total votes over last week?

We’ve set the poll so that you can vote one time. It’s possible—OK, probable—that fans of these campaigns or the campaigns themselves have found a workaround. For now, we’re going to keep presenting the numbers and know you’ll take them with a grain of salt.

To recap, the idea here is to look at the week that was, the events, the headlines, the spats, the mishaps, and give you a sense of where every candidates is spending their time. We give you a fresh poll each week. We also reveal the results of the previous week’s poll.

This week was relatively quiet. It’s spring break for many; maybe that’s it. Maybe we all needed time away to digest the prior week. You had a few candidates going before the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas for an endorsement. And you had a forum from the Mexican Bar Association.

As always, find our primer on every candidate here. Now let’s get to it.

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    1) Albert Black

    Total Votes This Week: 1,917
    Last Week: 1,097 (1)

    Black hit the aforementioned forum and went before the Stonewall Democrats for an endorsement screening (looks like they’ll choose their candidate this week). He also seems to be ratcheting up the online activity. His campaign has started to release short videos from some of Black’s employees at On Target Supplies & Logistics, the company he founded. It’s just another way the campaign pushes Black’s bonafides as a job creator. — Shawn Shinneman

    2) Alyson Kennedy

    Total Votes This Week: 1,507
    Last Week: 14 (9)

    I have no news about Alyson Kennedy. Far as I can tell, she does not have campaign social media. She hasn’t appeared in public, to my knowledge, in the last week. I can say that I’ve been emailed on more than one occasion by people who’ve read my interview with her and were having trouble getting in touch. All this leads me to believe there could be an artificial element to those votes. — S.S.

    3) Jason Villalba

    Total Votes This Week: 859
    Last Week: 47 (7)

    We’ve written about the way Villalba has positioned himself to pull in right-leaning voters. Another of his campaign’s aims seems to be an appeal to family values. He held his announcement at his grandmother’s house in Oak Cliff, wife and kids in tow. And last week, he put out a video that prominently features his family. In it, he says he’s so resonant with millennials that people have been referring to him as Jeto (sort of like Beto, the $6 million man). His wife calls him out. It’s honestly probably more awkward than I’m making it sound. Other highlights from Villalba’s week include weekend block walking, consuming meal worms, and declaring that he’d have the greatest social media presence in the history of Dallas City Hall. Oh, and organizing a block walk during Lower Greenville’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. — S.S.

    4) Miguel Solis

    Total Votes This Week: 350
    Last Week: 576 (2)

    Solis released a plan to get pre-kindergarten education to every child in Dallas Monday morning. He says a lack of classroom space is the biggest missing ingredient, and that he’ll look to use existing city facilities and find other underutilized space for the rooms. He’d also seek out partnerships and incentivize developers. This would continue the work he did on the Dallas ISD school board, creating the district’s first early childhood education policy. Solis visited the Preston Hollow and White Rock democrats respectively last week. He’s vying for the Stonewall endorsement, he appeared at the week’s lone forum, and he spoke with WFAA about his relationship with Beto O’Rourke. — S.S.

    5) Mike Ablon

    Total Votes This Week: 275
    Last Week: 458 (3)

    It was a quiet week for Ablon. He spent time in the Dolphin Heights neighborhood, near Parkdale Lake. He’s got this growing list of endorsements posted on his website. And he has a yard sign with your name on it (technically it’s his name).— S.S.

    6) Scott Griggs

    Total Votes This Week: 223
    Last Week: 292 (4)

    In the middle of last week, the Dallas Observer‘s Jim Schutze published clips of police interviews related to Griggs’ alleged threat to break the “f—ing fingers” of then assistant city attorney Bilierae Johnson. Here’s Schutze’s piece, which Griggs shared on Facebook. He also spoke in front of the Stonewall Democrats and held a couple of meet and greets. — S.S.

    7) Eric Johnson

    Total Votes This Week: 85
    Last Week: 162 (5)

    It’s a little odd to see Johnson so far down this list, because there are rumblings he’s doing better in other polls and, of course, he’s backed by some deep pocketed supporters. With that backing, it’s unsurprising to see Johnson pumping workforce development. He’s been pushing his pre-K advocacy lately, as well. He was spotted campaigning along the St. Patrick’s Day Parade over the weekend. — S.S.

    8) Lynn McBee

    Total Votes This Week: 66
    Last Week: 47 (8)

    This week, Lynn McBee used Jim Schutze’s declaration that she is a “wealthy volunteer” as a rallying cry. Her campaign sent out emails calling out the qualifier, noting “conversations among men questioning if I could handle ‘the boys’ at City Hall.” “For the past 30 years, I’ve worked as a research scientist, a biotech exec, CEO of a multi-million-dollar nonprofit, yet recently The Observer called me one of the ‘wealthy volunteer’ candidates for mayor.” She and I discussed this theme a week or so after she announced her run. “Women lead differently,” she told me. “Women, we bring the plan home. Men have got great bold ideas … women are more sensitive, and so they’re in tune with people’s feelings about things.” Other than that news, Trammell S. Crow held a fundraiser for her last week. — Matt Goodman

    9) Regina Montoya

    Total Votes This Week: 65
    Last Week: 82 (6)

    Montoya received an endorsement this week from Emily’s List, a PAC that specifically boosts female Democratic candidates. “She has been at the forefront of the fight against poverty and has led the way in identifying and creating opportunities for Dallas residents to succeed,” said the organization’s president, Stephanie Schriock, in a statement. “In addition to serving at a local level, Regina’s federal government and corporate experience has given her the skills to effectively convene people with different perspectives in order to work toward the greater good.” Montoya has been hosting meet and greet events, and she appeared at the Mexican Bar Association’s mayoral forum. She’s seeking an endorsement from the Stonewall Democrats. — S.S. 

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