Four down, one to go: an overview of Texas’ 2015 mayoral elections
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| Note: Cities listed in this box are those among the 100 largest in the United States that held elections in 2015. |
June 15, 2015
By Charles Aull
Five of the largest cities in Texas scheduled mayoral elections for 2015. Three of these—Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington—took place in May. A fourth—San Antonio—wrapped up in a runoff election over the weekend. The fifth—Houston—will take place in November.
The four cities that have already held their mayoral elections all featured incumbents. The fates of these mayors have varied dramatically.
Fort Worth and Dallas
Two of the five incumbent mayors coasted to re-election. In Fort Worth, Betsy Price, first elected in 2011, ran unopposed for the second time in a row. This year and in 2013, the city cancelled its mayoral elections after no challengers filed to run against her. Next door, Dallas mayor and former Pizza Hut CEO Mike Rawlings won re-election with similar ease. He faced two opponents: Marcos Ronquillo, a civil rights attorney who previously served in the Carter administration, and Richard P. Sheridan, a perennial write-in candidate who was arrested a month before the election for allegedly spray painting “666” on several buildings and landmarks with connections to the Dallas LGBT community.[1][2] Rawlings received nearly 73 percent of the vote, the largest share won by a Dallas mayor since Ron Kirk’s re-election in 1999.[3]
Arlington
Things played out differently for the incumbents of Arlington and San Antonio. In Arlington, twelve-year incumbent Robert Cluck—the mayor responsible for bringing the Dallas Cowboys to the city—lost to Jeff Williams, a former chairman of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and an executive of a local engineering firm. Many in the Arlington area expected the race to be close. It wasn’t. After six terms in office, Cluck had developed a formidable support base, but a string of setbacks and unpopular policy decisions such as losing out on hosting the Dallas Cowboys' training facility and the installment of red-light cameras diminished some of his popular appeal. Williams used the animosity surrounding these issues to his advantage, portraying the city as stagnant under Cluck and fashioning himself as an agent of change and renewal. On election night, the city voted out Cluck 57 percent to 40 percent and approved by a similar margin a charter amendment banning red-light cameras. Cluck took the loss in stride, saying:[4]
| “ | Nobody likes to be beat, but I’m fine. I have plenty of things to do.[5] | ” |
San Antonio
In Texas’ second-largest city, former San Antonio council member and mayoral incumbent Ivy Taylor fought tooth-and-nail for election to a full term after being appointed in July of 2014 to succeed Julián Castro, who left office to assume the position of Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Taylor won, but only after overcoming some serious competition. Thirteen challengers filed to run against her, including Mike Villarreal, a former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, and Leticia Van de Putte, a former Democratic member of the Texas State Senate. The general election field was one of the largest in San Antonio's recent political history. The most opponents that Taylor's predecessor, Julián Castro, ever faced was in 2009, when the office was an open seat.[6] He faced eight opponents in that race. In his successful re-election bids, he overcame four challengers in 2011 and six in 2013.[7][8]
In the general election on May 9, Van de Putte forced Taylor into a runoff, winning 30 percent to Taylor’s 28. Although municipal elections in Texas are officially nonpartisan, the runoff pitted two known Democrats against each other in a city that traditionally leans progressive. The major exception to this is San Antonio’s North Side, which is home to a sizable bloc of conservative voters.[9] Taylor developed an impressive following in this area, possibly due to her opposition to a failed streetcar plan and her decision to vote against an anti-discrimination ordinance when she was on city council. Van de Putte, on the other hand, focused on mobilizing San Antonio’s progressives and depicting Taylor as soft on crime in order to offset her opponent’s support base in the North.[10][11]
In the end, Van de Putte’s strategy failed. Taylor went into election day a little over 3,000 votes ahead and managed to hold on to her lead throughout the night. Unofficial results from Saturday showed Taylor winning with 51.7 percent of the vote, making her the first African-American woman ever to be elected mayor of San Antonio.[12] Had Van de Putte won, she would have become the city's first Latina mayor.[13]
Houston
This leaves Houston, the state's biggest city, as the fifth and final mayoral contest in Texas for 2015. Unlike Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington and San Antonio, no incumbent is running for re-election in Houston. Mayor Annise Parker, currently serving her sixth year in office, is term-limited. Nonetheless, her tenure will most likely be at the heart of the city’s mayoral race. A court case surrounding an anti-discrimination ordinance has turned Parker’s final term in office into one of the most controversial and divisive episodes in the city’s history. The 2015 mayoral race will likely be as much about Houston’s recent past as about its future.
Houston’s mayoral election will take place on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election is August 24. Check here for analysis and a full candidate list as November gets closer.
See also
- San Antonio, Texas municipal elections, 2015
- Arlington, Texas municipal elections, 2015
- Dallas, Texas municipal elections, 2015
- Fort Worth, Texas municipal elections, 2015
- Houston, Texas municipal elections, 2015
- United States municipal elections, 2015
Footnotes
- ↑ NBC News, "Marcos Ronquillo Wants to Be Dallas' First Latino Mayor," March 26, 2015
- ↑ Dallas Observer, "Dallas Mayoral Candidate Admits Involvement With '666' Graffiti, Still Has Debate Plans," March 30, 2015
- ↑ Dallas County Elections, "1999 Joint Election Results," accessed June 13, 2015
- ↑ Star-Telegram, "Reflecting on loss, Arlington mayor says 'it was just time,'" May 13, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ City of San Antonio Elections, "2009 Official Election Results," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ City of San Antonio Elections, "2011 Official Election Results," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ City of San Antonio Elections, "2013 Official Election Results," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ San Antonio Express News, "No North Side conservatives emerge in mayor’s race," January 28, 2015
- ↑ My San Antonio, "Strange mayoral runoff coming to an end," June 11, 2015
- ↑ San Antonio Express News, "Mayor’s race grows heated," June 1, 2015
- ↑ Bexar County Elections, "Unofficial runoff election results," accessed June 13, 2015
- ↑ KENS5, "Taylor pulls away from Van de Putte in bruising S.A. mayoral race," June 13, 2015
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