Dallas to elect new mayor in May
Dallas, the nation's ninth-largest city by population, will hold elections for mayor and city council on May 4. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in any race, runoffs will take place on June 8.
Current Mayor Mike Rawlings, who was first elected in 2011, is prevented by term-limits from seeking re-election. Nine candidates qualified for the ballot, representing a mixture of backgrounds in local and state government, business, the nonprofit sector, and more.
Four candidates in the race hold or have held elected office—Dallas City Councilman Scott Griggs, state Rep. Eric Johnson (D), Dallas Independent School District Trustee Miguel Solis, and former state Rep. Jason Villalba (R).
Candidates Albert Black and Regina Montoya have held non-elected government positions. Black was the chairman of the Dallas Housing Authority under Mayor Rawlings. Regina Montoya was the chair of the Mayor's Task Force on Poverty under Rawlings, and she was assistant for intergovernmental affairs to President Bill Clinton (D). Last week, Montoya was endorsed by former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D).
Candidate Mike Ablon is a real estate developer. Alyson Kennedy was the 2016 Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate. Lynn McBee is CEO of the nonprofit Young Women’s Preparatory Network.
In addition to the mayoral race, Dallas will hold elections for all 14 city council seats. Unlike the mayor, who is elected to a four-year term, Dallas city council members are elected to two-year terms. Ten incumbents are seeking re-election, and four are open-seats. No candidates are running unopposed. In 2017, which was the most recent year city council elections were held in the city, incumbents sought re-election in all 14 districts and three were unopposed.
The city of Dallas uses a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, the mayor serves on the city council—the city's primary legislative body. The council and mayor appoint a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives. The mayor of Dallas presides over the city council, makes policy and budget recommendations, and does not have veto power.
Dallas' use of the council-manager system is unique among large cities. Ten of the 15 most populous cities in the United States use what’s known as a strong mayor system, in which the mayor—instead of a city manager—serves as the city's chief executive while the city council serves as the legislative body.
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