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May Election Season Officially Kicks Off Today. Here’s Who Might Be On Your Ballot.

A very few hardy voters will head to the polls in May to cast ballots in Dallas mayor, city council, and Dallas ISD school board elections. Today was the first day for candidates to file.
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Kelsey Shoemaker

We may not know exactly who will be on the May 6 ballot, but we have a running start. Candidates for Dallas City Council, Mayor, and Dallas ISD board of trustees have begun to file their election paperwork.

Wednesday was the first day to turn in paperwork, and prospective candidates have until February 17 to file. Members of the Dallas City Council are limited to four consecutive two-year terms, while Dallas ISD trustees can serve unlimited three-year terms.

The ballot so far is light. In 2019, we saw 13 candidates for the mayor’s race alone, and several council and school board races had multiple opponents in each district. This year, incumbent Mayor Eric Johnson has one challenger so far—community volunteer Kendal Richardson. Most council races have at most four challengers. (Districts 3 and 10, currently held by the term-limited Casey Thomas and Adam McGough, have four and three challengers, respectively.) 

In Dallas ISD, District 2 incumbent Dustin Marshall is not seeking another term. While early on it appeared there might be two candidates, so far Dallas ISD parent and entrepreneur Jimmy Tran is the only one to confirm he is running for Marshall’s seat. District 6 trustee Joyce Foreman and District 8 trustee Joe Carreon have no challengers yet.

Turnout and the economy may have something to do with that. It’s expensive to run a campaign, especially when so few turn out. In Dallas County, 134,820 ballots were cast in municipal elections in 2019. Some candidates spent more than $85 per vote they received in the 2021 election (when about 67,788 voted in city council races). 

Incumbents have also raked in substantial endorsements prior to filing their campaign paperwork. For instance, Johnson has a roster of backers that include three Dallas ISD board members, three former mayors, at least two dozen former city council members, and several current and former lawmakers. Some candidates have also raised a substantial amount of cash, too. Johnson announced on December 27 that he had raised $1.2 million so far. Former Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa was rumored to be a challenger to Johnson, but he announced he would not run after the mayor released his endorsements and fundraising numbers.

Tran, likely anticipating more challengers when he began fundraising and campaigning, has raised more than $66,000 as of his January 15 campaign finance report. By comparison, Marshall had a war chest of not quite $72,000 at the same point in 2020, when he last ran for the District 2 seat.

More people could file to run—they certainly have some time to do so. But the campaign treasurer reports for both Dallas ISD and the city don’t really indicate that more candidates are in the pipeline.

We’ll update this post as more candidates sign up, but here’s the ballot so far:

Dallas ISD: Tran (District 2), Foreman (District 6, incumbent), and Carreon (District 8, incumbent)

Dallas Mayor: Johnson (incumbent) and Richardson

Dallas City Council District 1, North Oak Cliff: Chad West (incumbent), Mariana Griggs, and Albert Mata

Dallas City Council District 2, Deep Ellum, Old East Dallas, the Medical District: Jesse Moreno (incumbent)

Dallas City Council District 3, Southwest Dallas: August Doyle, Zarin Gracey, Rickey Lee Perry Jr., and Joe Tave

Dallas City Council District 4, South Oak Cliff: Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold (incumbent)

Dallas City Council District 5, Southeast Dallas: Jaime Resendez (incumbent) and Andre Turner.

Dallas City Council District 6, West Dallas: Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez (incumbent) and Sidney Robles-Martinez (unconfirmed, but filed a campaign treasurer’s report)

Dallas City Council District 7, South Dallas/Fair Park: Adam Bazaldua (incumbent), Okema Thomas, and former Councilman Kevin Felder (unconfirmed, but filed a campaign treasurer’s report)

Dallas City Council District 8, Southern Dallas: Tennell Atkins (incumbent) and Subrina Brenham

Dallas City Council District 9, White Rock Lake and Far East Dallas: Paula Blackmon (incumbent)

Dallas City Council District 10, Lake Highlands: Sirrano Keith Baldeo, Kathy Stewart, and Brian Hasenbauer

Dallas City Council District 11, North Dallas: Jaynie Schultz (incumbent) 

Dallas City Council District 12, Far North Dallas: Cara Mendelsohn (incumbent)

Dallas City Council District 13, Preston Hollow: Gay Donnell Willis (incumbent)

Dallas City Council District 14, Downtown, Uptown, and portions of East Dallas: Paul Ridley (incumbent) and former Park Board member Amanda Schultz

The last day to register to vote in municipal elections is April 6, and the first day of early voting is April 24. If candidates in any race do not receive at least 50 percent of the vote, they’ll head to a runoff in June.

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Bethany Erickson

Bethany Erickson

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Bethany Erickson is the senior digital editor for D Magazine. She's written about real estate, education policy, the stock market, and crime throughout her career, and sometimes all at the same time. She hates lima beans and 5 a.m. and takes SAT practice tests for fun.

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