Mayoral election in Arlington, Texas (2026)
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← 2023
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| 2026 Arlington elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: February 13, 2026 |
| General election: May 2, 2026 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor |
| Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections) |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2026 |
Incumbent Jim Ross, Steve Cavender, Hunter Crow, and Shaun Mallory are running in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of Arlington, Texas, on May 2, 2026. As of March 2026, Ross and Cavender led in endorsements and local media attention.[1]
The Arlington Report's Chris Moss reported that in a press release, Cavender said "he was urged to run 'for the past couple years' by civic and community leaders and small business owners who are frustrated with budget shortfalls and rising property taxes." Moss also reported that "Ross said many of the [budget and tax] issues were caused by the Tarrant County Appraisal District’s move to freeze property appraisals."[1]
Ross was first elected mayor in 2021. Ross is an attorney and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Arlington Police Department. Ross says he has "brought over 27,000 new jobs to Arlington...[and] increased the average wage by more than 20%" during his two terms in office.[2] The Arlington Professional Firefighters Association and the Arlington Police Association endorsed Ross.[3]
Cavender is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and the U.S. Army Reserve. Cavender is a real estate developer and the president of the River Legacy Foundation.[4] Cavender says he is running because "Arlington deserves energetic, fiscally responsible leadership that puts residents and taxpayers first."[5] Former mayors Jeff Williams and Richard Greene endorsed Cavender.[6]
The city of Arlington has a council-manager government. The mayor is one of nine members of the city council and has responsibilities including presiding over council meetings and representing the city. The city council appoints a city manager to serve as chief executive. Arlington mayors are elected to three-year terms in nonpartisan elections and are subject to a three-term limit.
Elections for mayor of Arlington are nonpartisan. Ross' office said in an August 2025 statement to Ballotpedia that he was an independent.[7] As of March 2026, Ballotpedia was unable to locate information on Cavender's partisan affiliation.
Candidates and election results
Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.
General election
The general election will occur on May 2, 2026.
General election for Mayor of Arlington
Incumbent Jim Ross (Nonpartisan), Steve Cavender (Nonpartisan), Hunter Crow (Nonpartisan), and Shaun Mallory (Nonpartisan) are running in the general election for Mayor of Arlington on May 2, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jim Ross (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Steve Cavender (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Hunter Crow (Nonpartisan)  | |
| Shaun Mallory (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Voting information
What is the voter registration deadline?[8]
- In-person: April 2, 2026
- By mail: Postmarked by April 2, 2026
What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?[9]
- In-person: April 21, 2026
- By mail: Received by April 21, 2026
- Online: April 21, 2026[10]
What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?[9]
- In-person: May 2, 2026
- By mail: Postmarked by May 2, 2026; received by May 4, 2026[11]
Is early voting available to all voters?[12]
Yes.
What are the early voting start and end dates?[13]
Early voting begins on April 20, 2026, and runs through April 28, 2026.
Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?[14]
Yes, all voters are required to present identification at the polls. Voters who do not have and cannot reasonably obtain one of the seven permitted forms of photo ID are permitted to fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and provide a non-photo ID instead.
When are polls open on Election Day?[13]
Election Day polls will open at 7:00 a.m. Central Time and will close at 7:00 p.m. Central Time.
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Incumbent: Yes
Political Office:
- Mayor of Arlington (Assumed office: 2021)
Biography: Ross served four years in the United States Marine Corps and 13 years in the Arlington Police Department. After leaving the police force, Ross became an attorney working in environmental exposure law before founding his own law firm. As of the 2026 elections, Ross owned a steakhouse and was in the process of opening a second restaurant.
Show sources
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Biography: Cavender served seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and the U.S. Army Reserves. As of the 2026 elections, Cavender had worked for 44 years as a real estate developer and was president of the River Legacy Foundation Board of Directors.
Show sources
Incumbent: No
Submitted Biography: "My Name is Hunter Crow, I am a graduate student at the University of North Texas pursuing my Master's of Science Library Science with Concentration in Law Librarianship and a Graduate Academic Certificate in Health Information. I graduated from The University of Texas Arlington with my Bachelor's Degree in History in Spring 2025 including an undergraduate certificate in medical humanities. I also graduated with an Associates of Applied Science in Library Technician from Tarrant County College in spring 2023. I was born in Grand Prairie Texas in February 20th 1995 and graduated from Martin High School in 2014. I currently serve as the Incumbent Precinct Chair in the Tarrant County Democratic Party in precinct #2425. I also previously served as the Tarrant County College South Campus Student Government Association Senate Chairman. I previously held multiple roles in the University of Texas Arlington Student Government Association such as serving on the Student Services Allocation Fee Committee. Including serving as president of the UT Arlington Phi Alpha Theta chapter. I also have contributed my time as a Texas Notary Public."
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.
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.
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Hunter Crow (Nonpartisan)
I argue that the United States is rapidly becoming an oligarchy, where a small number of billionaires hold unprecedented wealth and power while the working class struggles. My central mission is to fight this concentration of wealth and power
Healthcare as a Human Right (Medicare for All)
I continue to advocate for a single-payer, Medicare-for-All healthcare system to replace the current "disastrous" system. He emphasizes that all citizens should have their basic needs—including healthcare, housing, and education—met as a right.
Taking on Corporate Greed and Getting Big Money Out of Politics
Hunter Crow (Nonpartisan)
You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Campaign ads
This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.
Jim Ross
Steve Cavender
Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Steve Cavender while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from RealClearPolitics, when available. We will regularly check for polling aggregation for this race and add polls here once available. To notify us of polls available for this race, please email us.
Endorsements
Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.
| Noteworthy endorsements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Endorser | Jim Ross | Steve Cavender
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| Individuals | ||
| Frmr. Mayor Richard Greene source | ✔ | |
| Frmr. Mayor Jeff Williams source | ✔ | |
| Organizations | ||
| Arlington Professional Firefighters Association source | ✔ | |
| Arlington, Texas, Police Association source | ✔ | |
Campaign finance
Candidate spending
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the City of Arlington. Click here to access those reports.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[15][16][17]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Election analysis
Mayoral partisanship
Arlington has an independent mayor. As of March 2026, 67 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 22 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
About the city
- See also: Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas. As of 2020, its population was 394,266.
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
Since 1949, the city of Arlington has utilized a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints a chief executive called a city manager.[18]
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Arlington, Texas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arlington | Texas | |
| Population | 394,266 | 29,145,505 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 95 | 261,267 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 56.1% | 69.2% |
| Black/African American | 22.9% | 12.1% |
| Asian | 6.6% | 4.9% |
| Native American | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | 7.7% | 6.2% |
| Multiple | 6% | 7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 29.2% | 39.4% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 85.2% | 84.4% |
| College graduation rate | 30.9% | 30.7% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $63,351 | $63,826 |
| Persons below poverty level | 14.2% | 14.2% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Past elections
2023
General election
General election for Mayor of Arlington
Incumbent Jim Ross defeated Amy Cearnal in the general election for Mayor of Arlington on May 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Ross (Nonpartisan) | 51.8 | 9,059 |
 | Amy Cearnal (Nonpartisan) | 48.2 | 8,413 | |
| Total votes: 17,472 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2021
General Runoff
General Runoff election for Mayor of Arlington
Jim Ross (Nonpartisan) defeated Michael Glaspie (Nonpartisan) in the general runoff for Mayor of Arlington on June 5, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Ross (Nonpartisan) | 54.4 | 11,333 |
 | Michael Glaspie (Nonpartisan) | 45.6 | 9,484 | |
| Total votes: 20,817 | |||
| = 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 Mayor of Arlington
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Arlington on May 1, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Ross (Nonpartisan) | 47.4 | 14,782 |
| ✔ | | Michael Glaspie (Nonpartisan) | 21.1 | 6,590 |
 | Marvin Sutton (Nonpartisan) | 14.9 | 4,661 | |
 | Kelly Burke (Nonpartisan) | 7.3 | 2,289 | |
 | Dewayne Washington (Nonpartisan) | 5.1 | 1,597 | |
 | Doni Anthony (Nonpartisan) | 1.8 | 566 | |
| Cirilo Ocampo Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 1.2 | 368 | ||
| Jerry Warden (Nonpartisan) (Disqualified, still on ballot) | 1.1 | 329 | ||
| Total votes: 31,182 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Note: Jerry Warden had been approved to appear on the ballot, but was later deemed ineligible due to past felony convictions and removed from the ballot on April 8, 2021.[19]
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 | |
| 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. | ||||
Earlier results
To view the electoral history dating back to 2015 for the office of Mayor of Arlington, Texas, click [show] to expand the section. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.[20] Incumbent Jeff Williams defeated Chris Dobson in the Mayor of Arlington general election.[21]
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.[22] In the mayoral race, Jeff Williams defeated incumbent Robert Cluck, Didmus B. Banda and Jerome Raymond Pikulinski.[23][24]
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Ballot access requirements
The table below details filing requirements for mayoral candidates in Arlington, Texas, in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Texas, click here.
| Filing requirements for Arlington mayoral candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source | |||
| 89 | $100[25] | 2/13/2026 | 1 2 | |||
2026 battleground elections
- See also: Battlegrounds
This is a battleground election. Other 2026 battleground elections include:
- Iowa's 1st Congressional District election, 2026
- Maine's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026
- Tennessee's 9th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 6 Republican primary)
See also
| Arlington, Texas | Texas | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 KERA News, "River Legacy Foundation board president challenges Jim Ross for Arlington mayor seat," January 20, 2026
- ↑ Vimeo, "Re-elect Jim Ross for Mayor - with Captions," December 31, 2025
- ↑ Jim Ross campaign website, "Home page," accessed March 2, 2026
- ↑ Steve Cavender campaign website, "Meet Steve," accessed March 2, 2026
- ↑ Steve Cavender campaign website, "Home page," accessed March 2, 2026
- ↑ Steve Cavender campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed March 2, 2026
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with City of Arlington Office of Communication," August 12, 2025
- ↑ Tarrant County, Texas, "Register to Vote," accessed March 1, 2026
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Tarrant County, Texas, "Voting by Mail," accessed March 1, 2026
- ↑ An online application for an absentee/mail-in ballot is only valid if the voter also submits an application by mail. The mailed application must be received within four business days of the online application.
- ↑ Absentee ballots cast by voters outside the United States are eligible so long as they are postmarked by May 2, 2026, and received by May 7, 2026.
- ↑ VoteTexas.Gov, "Early Voting FAQs," accessed March 1, 2026
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 City of Arlington, "Election Information," accessed March 1, 2026
- ↑ VoteTexas.Gov, "Texas Voter ID Requirements," accessed March 1, 2026
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ City of Arlington, "Government," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Candidate with felony convictions declared ineligible for Arlington mayor’s race," April 9, 2021
- ↑ Arlington, Texas, "Ordinance Ordering General Election," January 24, 2017
- ↑ Arlington, Texas, "2017 candidate list," accessed February 18, 2017
- ↑ City of Arlington, "May 9, 2015, Election," accessed January 5, 2015
- ↑ Tarrant County Elections, "2015 Unofficial Election Results," accessed May 9, 2015
- ↑ City of Arlington, "2015 Official Candidate Filings," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Candidates had the option of either paying the filing fee or submitting the required number of petition signatures.
