Voter guide for Tarrant County runoff elections on June 7
For most of Tarrant County, the local election season is over. Yet in Forest Hill, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Kennedale and Mansfield, there's one seat that has gone to a runoff election.
For those five Tarrant city councils, there was one race in which no one candidate won over 50% of the votes. So, on June 7, the top two candidates will face off.
Early voting starts on Tuesday, May 27, and runs through Tuesday, June 3. Visit the Tarrant County Election Administration for early voting and Election Day polling places.
Here's what will be on the ballot and what each candidate promises:
In the May 3 election, Brigette Matthis drew in 46.78% of the 838 votes and Keith R. Smith wrangled 41.77%. The third candidate, Willie Glaster got 11.46%. Matthis and Smith will be running against each other in the runoff.
Brigette Mathis: Mathis's Facebook page touts that 'it's time for truth and action' and that with Mathis, you can 'be the change.' The page says that residents' safety is her No. 1 priority and that she will talk about the issues the other council members ignore. Examples posted on Mathis's Facebook page include a shortage of police officers, high crime, low morale among current officers, and unqualified, overpaid city officials.
Mathis wants to bring integrity and transparency back into the city of Forest Hill. She said in one video that by solving the safety issue, bringing economic growth into the city would be made easier.
Keith R. Smith: The incumbent, Smith was elected to the City Council in 2022 and selected as mayor pro tem. According to his biography on the city's website, Smith has focused on literacy for all ages in his 35 plus years as an educator. In his 2022 campaign, he ran 'with a vision of serving the children of our community,' according to his biography.
Though he does not have a candidate Facebook page of his own, Forest Hill Mayor Stephanie Boardingham posted that Smith has brought 'unity and great leadership' to the community. Boardingham said Smith supports her as mayor and the rest of the council, unlike the alternative.
On May 3, Mia Hall was the front-runner with 46.80% of the 4,966 votes. Daryl R. Davis received 28.49%, Marshall Hobbs 21.57% and Adrian Devine Smith 3.14% of the ballots. Hall and Davis will be on the runoff ballot.
Daryl R. Davis: Previously the Crowley school board president, Davis says on his campaign website that he will fight for the community's best interest and will continue to prioritize 'transparency, efficiency, accountability and results.'
Davis is the executive pastor of Inspiring Temple of Praise Church and the vice president of workforce development at UpSpire, a nonprofit focused on helping people overcome barriers to employment.
He said in a Star-Telegram survey that his focus as a council member would be 'on policies that make life better for the people who live, work and are educated here in District 6—keeping neighborhoods safe, helping families keep more of what they earn, and ensuring that growth benefits the community.'
Mia Hall: Hall's website boasts her dedication to service in Fort Worth as a former FWISD principal, former Girls Inc. of Tarrant County board member and current member of the United Way of Tarrant County board. She is a Crowley school board member and previously served on the Fort Worth Zoning Commission.
Her priorities as a council member would be to keep neighborhoods safe, improve roads and infrastructure, enhance city services, champion education and foster economic development.
In Kennedale, Kenneth Michels garnered 47.89% of the 760 votes. Amanda Hollins had 38.55% and Ryon Ray had 13.55%. Michels and Hollins will meet again on the June 7 ballot.
Amanda Hollins: With 15 years in law enforcement, Hollins's vision for Kennedale includes strengthening community infrastructure, supporting local businesses, enhancing organizational efficiency, empowering future leaders, and advocating for ethical leadership.
Hollins is the president-elect of the East Fort Worth Business Association and the chief operating officer of the nonprofit Cars for Kids. With a commitment to being a voice for the whole community, Hollins said she aims to bring a business-minded, citizen-focused approach to City Council.
Kenneth Michels: Elected to City Council in 2022, Michels is a retired Kennedale firefighter. Before joining the City Council, he regularly attended council meetings and was a member of Keep Kennedale Beautiful Committee, Kennedale Parks Board, two Charter Planning Committees and the Utility and Infrastructure Board. He is also an active volunteer in the community.
Michels's priorities as a council member are economic development, infrastructure improvements, the maintenance and safety of parks, and continually improving his ability to serve the community.
Melisa Perez received 39.79% of the 8,289 votes in the Mansfield Precinct 5 election. Right behind her, Todd A. Simmons received 35.58%. The two will face off again in the runoff election on June 7. The other two candidates, Lance Hood and Eric Rozak got 15.57% and 9.06% of the votes.
Melisa Perez: A lifelong Mansfield resident, Perez is running on the pillars of ensuring responsible growth, strengthening public safety and supporting local businesses, according to her website.
Perez has served Mansfield in a number of capacities, but namely in the realms of economic development and community and faith-based service. Her vision for Mansfield is to guide the city's long-term growth with thoughtful planning, execution and effective communication with all stakeholders.
Todd A. Simmons: Simmons, a financial adviser, has involved himself in the Mansfield community through his church, on Mansfield school district committees and on the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center Advisory Board, according to his response to a Star-Telegram survey.
Simmons also said his priorities would be to fully evaluate any project proposed for fiscal and community impact; strive for diversifying Mansfield's tax base and continue to lower the tax rate; ensure the public safety and municipal employees are earning a competitive salary.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
18 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Why Would Musk Pick This Fight with Trump?
They were powerful together. But now the clash between the president and the world's richest man threatens to tear their ambitions apart—if they can't find a way to detente.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's business empire was built on government help. How badly could Donald Trump hurt him?
Even for Elon Musk, this is — to use the precise technical term — bonkers. Barely one week after leaving the Trump administration with every semblance of amity, the world's richest person is going scorched earth against the leader of the world's richest nation. Insults and threats. Calls for impeachment. Sinister references to Jeffrey Epstein. Somehow, Kanye West is also involved. It's like the messiest online influencer drama you've ever seen, except the parties are two of the most powerful people on Earth. But when it comes down to brass tacks, what exactly does Musk stand to lose in this titanic celebrity divorce? If Trump were to follow through on all his threats, and use every available weapon against Musk's business empire, how badly could it hurt him? The short answer is: pretty badly. In fact, with some admittedly quick and dirty math, we can put a price tag on some of it. Elon Musk's estimated $388bn fortune — already $26.6bn smaller than it was before this frank exchange of thermonuclear warheads — depends on the success of two companies which are both intertwined with the U.S. political system. One is Tesla, which makes electric vehicles; the other is SpaceX, which builds rockets, spacecraft, and satellites. X, formerly Twitter, can be left aside for now; having bought the social network 2022 for $44bn, Musk is still struggling to recoup his investment and has almost certainly lost money overall. Let's start with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., aka SpaceX. Not many people can afford to rent a rocket, so a lot of its business comes from government contracts, and U.S. government contracts most of all. As of writing, according to federal data, the Texas-based company has been paid or promised just under $21bn by Uncle Sam since 2008. The total potential value of all SpaceX's existing contracts, however, is much higher: $89.2bn. If Trump cancelled every contract tomorrow, that would mean a theoretical maximum of $68bn in lost potential income. For context, that's more than four times SpaceX's entire forecasted revenue for 2025, and nearly 15 times its revenue from 2022. Of course, there's no way to know if those maximum payments would ever actually have been made. So we could also get a rough sense of what SpaceX stands to lose by looking at the actual cash it received from federal coffers every year. In 2022 that was $2.8bn; in 2023, $3.1bn; and in 2024, $3.8bn. On the plus side for Musk, the U.S. government is so dependent on SpaceX that some critics have called it a monopoly in the making. SpaceX ferries our astronauts to and from the International Space Station, is heavily involved in Nasa's moon landing program, and manages an increasing share of government satellite communications as well. Still, that does not guarantee safety. Would you really, in all soberness, bet against Donald Trump doing something that hurts the country merely to punish his personal enemies? In fact, as Talking Points Memo editor-in-chief Josh Marshall argues, SpaceX's critical role might actually put it in greater danger, because it leaves the feds with few options except "expropriation or nationalization". Like SpaceX, Tesla has benefited greatly from taxpayer money, mostly in the form of emission trading payments from non-electric carmakers and tax credits or consumers buying electric vehicles. An analysis by The Washington Post put Tesla's total income from emission credits since 2007 at $11.4bn as of this February. Its gain from tax credits, which allow more people to buy its cars at higher prices, has been estimated at $3.4bn. Those emission credit schemes are run by U.S. states, not by the federal government. Nevertheless, Trump and the Republican Party have tried to undermine such schemes by contesting states' ability to set their own emissions rules. The wider impact is difficult to calculate. In contrast to SpaceX, Tesla sells to ordinary people, who tend to have their own opinions independent of government. In reputational terms, splitting noisily with Trump could reverse some of its recent sales losses; on the other hand, it might just make Tesla hated on both sides of politics. The biggest risk may be regulatory. At the time of Trump's second inauguration, Tesla was being investigated by numerous federal agencies including the Justice Department, the National Labor Relations Board, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — which by itself had six pending probes. During his time at DOGE, Democrats feared Musk could use his power to influence or cancel these cases. But Trump's unabashed willingness to wield state power to punish those who displease him while rewarding loyalists cuts both ways. Live by the chainsaw, die by the chainsaw. How much that costs Tesla would depend on how far Trump is willing to go, and on the outcome of any ensuing court battle. But when U.S. stock exchanges closed on Thursday its share price had crashed by nearly 12 percent, wiping $122bn off its market value. So far we've only addressed Elon Musk's finances. Yet there are other, more personal ways that Trump could hurt him if the former reality TV star truly isn't here to make friends. For example, Trump's old advisor Stephen Bannon — who has previously branded Musk a "parasitic illegal immigrant" — urged the administration to investigate Musk's immigration history, and potentially deport him. Unlike some of the feverish allegations that emanate from the extended Trump-o-sphere, this one actually has some substance. An investigation by The Washington Post last year alleged that Musk had worked illegally in the U.S. while launching his Silicon Valley career in the mid-90s. Musk has denied this, and in any case he has been a U.S. citizen since 2002. Still, legal experts have said his citizenship could technically be revoked if he were proven to have lied to immigration authorities. And while those laws have only rarely been enforced in the past 25 years, some Trump aides and allies have said they want that to change. Nor is that anywhere close to the only alleged skeleton in Musk's closet. What is his relationship with ecstasy, Adderall, ketamine, or magic mushrooms? Has he ever been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin? Did his colleagues at DOGE rigorously follow information security laws when extracting sensitive data from federal systems? What happened to all that data after it was obtained? At least we can probably can rule out plain old assassination by government special forces. Although, to be fair, that is literally something that Trump and his lawyers have argued should be protected by presidential immunity. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
20 minutes ago
- Washington Post
As World Pride flows straight into the military parade, DC officials say they're ready for anything
WASHINGTON — Officials in the nation's capital generally express full confidence in their ability to handle large, complicated events and huge crowds. As Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith recently put it, 'We are really the experts in this space when it comes to crowd management.' Over the next eight days. in the sprawling city that is the nation's capital, that expertise will be put to the test.
