Chris Dobson

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Chris Dobson

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 4, 2024

Education

High school

Arlington High School

Bachelor's

Texas Christian University, 2002

Graduate

University of Texas at Arlington, 2015

Personal

Birthplace

Freeport, Ill.

Religion

Tao

Profession

Advocate

Contact

Campaign TikTok

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Chris Dobson (also known as Dobi) ran for election to the Arlington City Council to represent District 7 in Texas. He lost in the general election on May 4, 2024.

Dobson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Chris Dobson was born in Freeport, Illinois. He earned a high school diploma from Arlington High School, a bachelor's degree from Texas Christian University in 2002, and a graduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs in 2015. His professional experience includes working as an advocate and a substitute teacher with the Arlington Independent School District.

Elections

2024

See also: City elections in Arlington, Texas (2024)

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 7

Incumbent Bowie Hogg defeated Chris Dobson in the general election for Arlington City Council District 7 on May 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bowie Hogg (Nonpartisan)	68.7	7,591
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	31.3	3,453

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 11,044
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dobson in this election.

2023

See also: City elections in Arlington, Texas (2023)

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 4

Incumbent Andrew Piel defeated Chris Dobson in the general election for Arlington City Council District 4 on May 6, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Andrew Piel (Nonpartisan)	77.4	4,004
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	22.6	1,167

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,171
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: City elections in Arlington, Texas (2022)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Arlington City Council District 6

Long Pham defeated Albert Parra in the general runoff election for Arlington City Council District 6 on June 18, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Long Pham (Nonpartisan)	57.3	4,630
	Submit photo	Albert Parra (Nonpartisan)	42.7	3,448

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,078
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 6

Long Pham and Albert Parra advanced to a runoff. They defeated Joshua Taylor and Chris Dobson in the general election for Arlington City Council District 6 on May 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Long Pham (Nonpartisan)	46.5	7,300
✔	Submit photo	Albert Parra (Nonpartisan)	35.8	5,628
	Submit photo	Joshua Taylor (Nonpartisan)	9.1	1,427
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	8.6	1,356

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 15,711
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bridgett Davis (Nonpartisan)
• Danielle Conley (Nonpartisan)

2021

See also: City elections in Arlington, Texas (2021)

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 8

Incumbent Barbara Odom-Wesley defeated Chris Dobson in the general election for Arlington City Council District 8 on May 1, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Barbara Odom-Wesley (Nonpartisan)	76.2	21,446
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	23.8	6,711

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,157
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: City elections in Arlington, Texas (2020)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Arlington City Council District 7

Incumbent Victoria Farrar-Myers defeated Antoine Lane in the general runoff election for Arlington City Council District 7 on December 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Victoria Farrar-Myers (Nonpartisan)	81.8	7,544
	Submit photo	Antoine Lane (Nonpartisan)	18.2	1,681

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,225
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 7

Incumbent Victoria Farrar-Myers and Antoine Lane advanced to a runoff. They defeated Chris Dobson and Hunter Crow in the general election for Arlington City Council District 7 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Victoria Farrar-Myers (Nonpartisan)	47.7	48,379
✔	Submit photo	Antoine Lane (Nonpartisan)	20.3	20,574
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	17.3	17,513
		Hunter Crow (Nonpartisan)	14.8	15,035

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 101,501
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2019

See also: Mayoral election in Arlington, Texas (2019)

General election

General election for Mayor of Arlington

Incumbent Jeff Williams defeated Ruby Faye Woolridge, Ashton Stauffer, and Chris Dobson in the general election for Mayor of Arlington on May 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeff Williams (Nonpartisan)	58.5	10,613
		Ruby Faye Woolridge (Nonpartisan)	25.7	4,668
		Ashton Stauffer (Nonpartisan)	10.0	1,809
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	5.7	1,042

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,132
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Municipal elections in Arlington, Texas (2018)

General election

General election for Arlington City Council District 6

Incumbent Robert Shepard defeated Chris Dobson in the general election for Arlington City Council District 6 on May 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Robert Shepard (Nonpartisan)	65.9	5,894
		Chris Dobson (Nonpartisan)	34.1	3,055

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,949
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Arlington, Texas (2017)

The city of Arlington, Texas, held elections for mayor and city council on May 6, 2017. A runoff election was held on June 10, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 17, 2017. Incumbent Jeff Williams defeated Chris Dobson in the Mayor of Arlington general election.

Mayor of Arlington, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeff Williams Incumbent	70.55%	14,134
Chris Dobson	29.45%	5,900
Total Votes		20,034
Source: City of Arlington, Texas, "Official May 6, 2017 Election Results," accessed May 19, 2017

2016

The city of Arlington, Texas, held elections for city council in 2016. The general election took place on May 7, 2016. Four seats on the Arlington City Council were up for election. Victoria Farrar-Myers defeated Chris Dobson in the District 7 seat of the Arlington, Texas city council.

Arlington City Council District 7 Seat, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Victoria Farrar-Myers	73.19%	4,570
Chris Dobson	26.81%	1,674
Total Votes (100 percent of precincts reporting)		6,244
Source: Tarrant County, "Cumulative Report - Official," May 7, 2016

2015

See also: Arlington, Texas municipal elections, 2015

The city of Arlington, Texas held elections for mayor and city council on May 9, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 27, 2015. Four of the eight city council seats were up for election. An incumbent ran for re-election in each district.

In District 8, incumbent Michael Glaspie defeated Gregory Gerami, Chris Dobson and Richard Weber.

Arlington City Council, District 8, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Michael Glaspie Incumbent	54.9%	8,209
Chris Dobson	24.7%	3,691
Richard Weber	17%	2,539
Gregory Gerami	3.5%	521
Total Votes		14,960
Source: Tarrant County Elections, "Official general election results," accessed May 28, 2015

2014

See also: Arlington, Texas city council elections, 2014

Elections for the city council of Arlington, Texas took place on May 10, 2014. Incumbent Robert Shepard defeated challenger Chris "Dobi" Dobson for the District 6 seat.

Arlington City Council, District 6, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Robert Shepard Incumbent	69.6%	6,828
Chris "Dobi" Dobson	30.4%	2,976
Total Votes		9,804
Source: Tarrant County Elections - Official 2014 Election Results

2012

See also: Texas' 6th Congressional District elections, 2012

Dobson ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 6th District. He ran as an independent candidate but did not appear on the general election ballot.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chris Dobson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dobson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I generally run against unopposed incumbents to insure the residents of Arlington have a choice. I don't take campaign contributions because it seems like bribery with an extra step. I believe in 'the wisdom of the crowd' that is to say the more people that take part the closer the average of contributions approaches the correct answer. I've run for office for 14 years so i'm over any pageantry. I've grown up here in Arlington and understand the way business is done around here and I think it must change if Arlington hopes to become a city. We must aspire to more than a chamber of commerce cash cow and tourist haven,

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We need greater resident empowerment. Residents must give an informed consent to be governed and this requires us to be involved in the creation and development of programs and projects. We need a citizens oversight of policing committee. We must create a charter amendment for Initiative, referendum, and recall to create laws, remove laws, and remove officers respectively.
• We need Transparency and Accountability. The residents are often the last to find out about economic development deals, changes in city programs, and other service changes. We need to change this so that residents have a meaningful chance to influence our government before council votes to approve deals or other bills. Residents need to understand and control our police force. We need the ability to remove bad officers and bad policies to ensure the safety of all residents. Our city government needs to operate with the presumption that aside from personal information, all documents should be in the public domain. If we are to give developers economic assistance then we must require affordable units in new construction.
• We need Affordability. Our water bills and fees continue to rise while the city transfers funds out of the water fund to other programs. Our home owning residents pay more than their fair share of property taxes, and the city must increase the commercial tax base by removing the sweetheart deals we have in place for billionaires. We must insure that our renting residents are able to file real complaints about their landlords with the city that result in real fixes without retribution.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am more interested in the process we use to create public policy rather than specific areas. That being said currently im interested in the development of a point of contact app for the residents and city. While we have AskArlington for code compliance and Arlington Transportation for VIA, we do not have a function for opinion polling, for contacting your representatives, paying bills, and emergency contact. They development of these functionalities could help bring a new generation of residents to the city and help streamline many issues for residents.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials are leaders and thus must approach their service with humility and introspection to prevent blind spots as much as possible. I believe democracy requires a level of servitude of its representatives that precludes benefiting from ones civil service.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like my legacy not to be of cement and buildings but in a community and intent of actively governing our city. I'd like to be part of the motivation to greater voter turn out and civic engagement generally. I'd like to see Arlington become a city people visit because of the impressiveness of our self governance not sports and amusement facilities.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was as a water safety Instructor's assistant for the City of Arlington in the '90s. I also worked as a lifeguard with the city for 3 summers.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2023

Chris Dobson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Chris Dobson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Chris Dobson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Chris Dobson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dobson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was raised in Arlington, going through AHS to TCU and on to UTA. I've been running for office since 2010 and since the get go I've sought greater turnout and participation as the core theme of my campaign. I feel we've been drastically under served by the HAVA Act and the transition to electronic voting, introducing insecurity rather than modernizing the voting process. While accumulating my L's over the years, I've been watching the operations of the council for tells, to use a poker reference. I've generally run with very little money and mostly my own as I feel campaign donations are little more than legalized bribery. I have a son and 2 cats, in that order. I generally like word play and try to add levity to most situations. I've been employed, most recently, as a substitute teacher with the AISD, a massage therapist, a canvasser, and done a few tree removals. As part of my graduate internship I helped start Arlington Proud, a local arts group, and sat on the Board for 2 years. I'm a fan of both the Cowboys and Rangers but I find the fact they pay no property tax despite the billion dollar subsidy causes me to hesitate to spend money on the teams. I hope to run for higher office someday but figured I'd like a few W's first, so here we are, being here now. I don't believe that my ideas are right because I realize that I have my point of view, and everything is just a point of view, including everything is just a point of view.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• End the racial and class disparities in policing through a 'Citizens's Oversight of Policing' committee
• Change the culture at cityhall, through polling resident and ending money in campaigning
• End the use of corporate subsidies and get them on the commercial taxroll

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

So I guess my passion lays in community development. While most look at this through an organizational lenses, I prefer to think of it in terms of an informed population acting through consensus. With the highly partisan nature of most levels of politics, the us/them mentality and an -ism schism have led to a pretty disastrous mindset for considering politics, based mostly on loyalty and authority. I feel we could do much better if we moved 'politics' to a more gaming mindset. This would allow for more curiosity about politics and enjoyment. To that end, I'd like to see an opinion poll of the residents of Arlington about the actions of council before the council votes. This would allow for the council to recognize and follow public opinion. I'd like to see an Intiative, Referendum, and Recall charter amendment to allow for more citizen control over the laws and people who govern them and I'd like this process to be online.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The most important principle for a councilperson is the ethics of professionalism within the public trust. The public trust is not just the act of trust between the citizens and officeholders. The Public Trust is the sum of publicly held lands, goods, and services. This public trust represents all things held in common for the public good. When entering into office it is important to understand that one is not the office, but merely the office holder. Just as the Sheriff upholds the law, but is not personally the law a council person merely occupies that seat. Too often it seems those elected feel entitled to make pronouncements from that seat as if they were the seat. Occasionally they use the seat of power to self aggrandize or self serve, in the case of taking luxury box seats and delivering them from the office to the office holder then to the friends of the office holder. Furthermore, I believe the ethical structure necessary for office includes not just consequences and duty of the office but also Kant's categorical imperative to act only if one would allow others the same freedom of action. An officeholder must not choose winner and losers or give benefits to some while denying others. The ethics of the office also requires an introspective quality to constantly be doubting oneself enough to continually reassess decisions in light of the consequences of ones actions. If an officeholder thinks only in terms of morality, the results become skewed by the bias of their life. Engaging this morality and becoming a self proclaimed bastion of "right thinking" leads to some of the results we've seen in Arlington, namely an oversized focus on the Entertainment district and the belief in dictating the market in terms of apartment construction. Lastly, though the inclusion of Kant's categorical imperative prevents arguments of exceptionalism to maintain the status quo.

What legacy would you like to leave?

While I'm not huge on the idea of leaving a legacy as I think they are expensive artifacts of the ego, I would say that I hope at the end of my time of service that the turnout rate for city elections is the highest across the country for municipalities and that if the tourism market still exists, that the majority of people visiting come to our town because of how we govern ourselves, not the entertainment facilities. I often use the analogy of being a parent of a child stating to date, Do you want their date to be interested because of their car(entertainment) or because of whom they are as a person(self governing)? We have the second largest school in the UT system and yet haven't had the sort of youth energy and cultural development that are hallmarks of college towns.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was as a Water Safety Instructor's Aide for the City of Arlington's Aquatics program from 1992 to 1995, making $4.25/hour. It was a great job teaching kids to swim, enjoyable and improved public safety.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Gospel According to Biff: Christs childhood friend by Christopher Moore.
I find the style of writing to be reminiscent of Tim Robbins and Douglas Addams to some degree. While engaging and humorous it still provides some interesting historic-ism. However I have many favorite books one book just cant do it for me. The Underground History of American Eduction - John Taylor Gatto; The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn; Basicaly any collection of the Wit and Wisdom of the Mullah Nas Ruddin.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The city council is the most involved level of government in your daily life. Utilities, Policing and Fire, Roads, Taxes. All of these are ultimately incredibly dependent upon the city level of operation. Meanwhile, our council spends their time in a city owned luxury box and spending inordinate amounts of time on special use permits, generally from people that have donated to their campaign, all while assuring us their is no quid pro quo.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I think previous experience in government or politics can be indicative of traits beneficial to our residents but it is neither necessary or sufficient for qualifications for office. Too often both politics and government do not operate along the ideals of our country so taking part doesn't imbue one with empathy, financial management skills, decision making prowess, or the ethical footing necessary to serve others.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

I believe the single most important skill for an officeholder is "active listening," in order to understand what the people are critiquing or complimenting. Without a doubt someone in this city has more expertise in every subject matter than any individual candidate, but the office holder if listening can benefit from this external expertise.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chris Dobson did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Arlington City Council District 7

TikTok

Personal

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn