As early voting continues in the June 5 local election runoff, grassroots organization True Texas Project has provided a list of recommendations from local citizen activists across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, as well as Waxahachie and Leander. Meanwhile, progressives have also backed candidates as part of an overall quest to turn Texas blue.
Issues such as critical race theory, public safety, and rising property taxes are prominent in Texas this year, and because local officials wield more direct control on citizens’ everyday lives than state or federal governments, participation in local elections is all the more important.
Local government can also be the farm system to produce future candidates for higher office, which is why far-left organization Run for Something has backed candidates in local races. Other leftists involved in these races are Our Revolution Texas and the Working Families Party.
True Texas Project (TTP), a citizen organization that “exists to educate and motivate citizen engagement in all levels of government,” gathered recommendations from local citizens for city and school district runoff races on June 5 ballots across the metroplex. TTP explains a runoff “happens when no candidate earns at least 50% of the votes. The two highest vote-getters are sent to the runoff to determine the winner.”
“These are not endorsements, and True Texas Project has not vetted these candidates personally,” the organization emphasizes. “Most of the time, our contacts must pick the lesser of two evils.” TTP encourages voters to use this list as a starting place for their own research.
School Boards
Local activists have four recommendations for school board elections in the June 5 runoff.
In the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District race, Shannon Braun is recommended. In Mansfield ISD, Keziah Farrar and Desiree Thomas are recommended for Places 2 and 4, respectively. In Richardson ISD, Chris Poteet is recommended.
Cities
There are 20 recommendations for city runoff elections.
In Fort Worth, local activists recommend Mattie Parker for mayor, Zeb Pent for city council in District 7, and incumbent Councilman Jungus Jordan in District 6. In neighboring Arlington, Jim Ross has received locals’ pick for mayor, as has Nikkie Hunter for city council in District 3.
In the Plano City Council runoffs, Justin Adcock in Place 4 and Chris Robertson in Place 7 are recommended. In Richardson, Marilyn Frederick has local backing for city council.
Jennifer White has been recommended in Frisco City Council Place 3, Derek France in Flower Mound’s mayoral runoff, and Jeff Woolridge and Greg Giessner for Grand Prairie City Council Places 6 and 8, respectively.
Rounding out locals’ recommendations in the metroplex are Dave Cornette for Allen City Council Place 3, Jimmy Stanford for Burleson City Council, Eric Owens for Euless City Council, and Annette Reese and Rusty Pendleton for Carrollton City Council Places 5 and 7, respectively.
Citizen activists outside the metroplex have recommendations for three races.
In Waxahachie City Council runoffs, Travis Smith is recommended for Place 5 by locals, while both Place 4 candidates are recommended.
In the Austin suburbs, Mike Sanders has received activists’ recommendations in Leander’s mayoral runoff election.
Voters may view all recommendations from citizen activists on TTP’s Election Information webpage. Early voting in the runoff election lasts from May 24 to June 1, with Election Day on June 5.
This article has been updated since publication.
