north texas municipal election results

In Dallas County, things are looking up. Irving residents overwhelmingly approved a new tax on fans and players at Texas Stadium to be used for redevelopment.

Coppell residents approved bonds that would buy land from developers near North Lake in Dallas. The incumbent Mayor Doug Stover was able to easily defeat his challenger to secure another term.

Carrollton voted to return all incumbents to the city council: Tim Hayden, Larry Don Williams, Pat Malone, and Herb Weidinger all held off challengers to keep their seats.

In Lancaster, voters approved of their incumbent by electing Joe Tillotson to another term as mayor of the city, but turned down a $93.6 million bond package.

In the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, Howard Fisher will replace retiring Robert Harris in Place 3. In the Irving Independent School District, Place 3 incumbent Randy Stipes will retain his seat and newcomer Valerie Jones will take Place 4 in the stead of retiring Ruben Franco.

Richardson supported their city and their schools by approving two bond packages, totalling around $200 million. The majority of the city's package will be focused on street improvement and the school's package is mainly aimed at facilities.

Over in Collin County, Plano Mayor Pat Evans retained her seat. "I am just thrilled," she said. "I think they [voters] are really happy with the direction the city is going."

In Plano's only contested City Council race, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Johnson fended off substitute teacher Linda "Lynn" Johnson for the Place 2 seat. The two are not related.

The Plano Independent School District chose to keep Vice President Melody Timinsky in Place 6. In Place 7, Missy Bender will replace the retiring Allan Bird.

McKinney voters decided to re-elect Mayor Bill Whitfield. In District 1, voters retained incumbent councilwoman Gilda Garza. Bill Cox won an at-large seat on the council.

Out in Ellis County, Mayor Russell R. Thomas of Ennis will retain his seat. Incumbents Joe Jenkins and Ron Wilkinson retained their seats on the Waxahachie City Council and and newcomer Joe Gallo will join them.

In the Dallas Independent School District, voters ousted the head of that governing body, Lois Parrott, and replaced her with Leigh Ann Ellis. Mrs. Ellis said, "This is not just a win for me; it's a win for our district – the PTAs, the principals, the parents."

District 9 voters returned Ron Price to the seat he has held for nine years. Mr. Price, the board's first vice president, defeated Bernadette Nutall in a close race.

In District 1, incumbent Edwin Flores easily defeated challenger Linus Spiller.

None of the seven candidates in District 6 won a majority of the votes, forcing a runoff election next month between Carla Ranger, who received the most votes, and Jordan Blair.

Mr. Blair beat out candidate Carol King Arnold by three votes. Dallas County Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet said it's possible that Ms. Arnold will ask for a recount.

"That's about as close as I remember for a runoff," Mr. Sherbet said of the vote margin separating Mr. Blair and Ms. Arnold.

Kathy Coffman, past president of the Dallas Council of PTAs, said Ms. Ellis' win signifies a new day in DISD.

"This is a historical day in DISD when an incumbent gets beat," Ms. Coffman said. "The sun is coming up in DISD. The fact that voters are taking enough interest to say, 'Enough is enough.' "

For Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, the election results mean he can probably move forward with his ambitious plan to transform DISD into one of the nation's top urban school systems.

In Denton County, the incumbent Mayor of Lewisville, Gene Carey, held off an interesting political challenger named Brandon Cooper, an eighteen-year-old senior at Lewisville High School. Mayor Carey also faced a high school student in 2001.

Incumbent Mayor of Flower Mound, Jody Smith, was able to easily defeat the former economic development director for the town, Jim Lang.

Ms. Smith said she'd focus her second term on finding money to fund a senior citizen center and expand the town's parks and trails. The mayor said she'd prefer to pay for her priorities by expanding the tax base with more economic development rather than increasing the sales tax, as Mr. Lang suggested.

In Highland Village, voters surprised the candidates by splitting the balance of power on the city council. Dianne Costa, former Mayor Pro-Tem and city councilwoman, was selected to serve as Mayor, but her voting bloc was dismantled when voters chose to elect Louis Robichaux to Place 4 over Costa ally and incumbent David Watrous. In Place 6, voters chose Costa ally and Wal-Mart supporter Scott McDearmont.

The Colony will see a runoff for Place 2 between John S. Marshall and Jeff Connelly. Place 1 will be filled by Allen Harris, who barely avoided a runoff himself.

In the Lewisville Independent School District, retired teacher Vernell Gregg will replace the retiring Anita Nelson in the Place 2 seat.

Perry McNeill will become the new Mayor of Denton. Outgoing Mayor of Denton Euline Brock reached her term limit this year and supported Mr. McNeill. Denton voters also chose to keep incumbents Bob Montgomery (Place 5) and Joe Mulroy (Place 6) on the city council.

The Denton Independent School District retained incumbent Curtis Ramsey in a close race for the Place 1 seat. In Place 2, voters rejected the incumbent and elected newcomer Sterling L. Smith.