Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker three-peats with resounding re-election victory
Parker received 66.54% of the vote compared to 33.46% for her seven challengers,
Speaking to supporters in the Stockyards, Parker was excited for another two years in office.
Parker spoke about Fort Worth's growth, noting the city's population has nearly doubled in the last 30 years. She mentioned surpassing Austin's population, and city's place as part of the Metroplex, which is fourth largest metro in the country.
Parker's campaign focused on building on the successes from her previous four years in office. She pointed to specifically to improving public safety, lowering the city's property tax rate, and increasing economic development.
Her campaign also focused on improving educational outcomes, both through working closely with school districts to improve literacy and promoting career and technical education.
She wrote a letter to the Fort Worth school board in August 2024, calling on the district to do more to improve student literacy. This led to the resignation of former Superintendent Angelica Ramsey and the hiring of her successor Karen Molinar who has promised to move aggressively to improve the district.
'Fort Worth is definitely a city on the move for all the right reasons,' she said to a crowd of about 300 supporters gathered in the theater at Tannahill's Tavern in the Stockyards.
Parker mentioned the city's investments in public safety and noted the increased numbers of police officers hired during her time in office.
'Public safety is the bedrock of any successful city, and it's worth noting that Fort Worth will likely be one of the only large cities in the entire country to be fully staffed by 2026,' she said as her supporters applauded.
The annual number of homicides were down roughly 37% between 2021 and 2024, according to Fort Worth police department data.
In addition to electoral dominance, Parker blew out her opponents when it came to fundraising. She accrued just over $1 million in campaign cash compared to roughly $4,000 for her closest opponent, ministries coordinator Josh Lucas.
That's the most a Fort Worth mayoral candidate has raised since former Mayor Betsy Price raised just over $464,000 in her 2019 reelection campaign.
Parker used some of her campaign cash to support fellow incumbents including, $8,000 to District 7 council member Macy Hill and $7,200 to District 4 council member Charlie Lauersdorf.
Hill, who's running unopposed, raised $233,700, and Lauersdorf, who's running against business owner Teresa Ramirez, raised $60,000.
Parker wrapped up her speech with a commentary on how partisanship has impacted the local and national political climate.
'There's never been a stranger time to be in elected office,' Parker said mentioning how social media has led to politicians' actions being documented in real time.
'As elected officials, you're really only rewarded for the things where you show up on TikTok, or Twitter or Facebook, but in Fort Worth we're setting a different trajectory.
'It's not about being a Republican, not about being a Democrat. It's about doing what's right for your community,' Parker said, adding doing the right thing has and will be the central focus of her time as Mayor
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