If you didn’t know, Dallas is in the midst of a mayoral race, and the election day is May 4. This race is different than many in the past because there are so many candidates – nine, to be exact. It is important for voters to be educated on the people they are putting in office, which can be tough because it’s often hard to get information on the candidates. The election is compeletely non-partisan, meaning that people run on issues, not under the Democratic or Republican party. Each candidate brings their own positions on important issues like law enforcement, education, taxes and the role of Dallas as a major city in the U.S. I’ve gone through each candidate’s website and outlined the very basics of their background and positions to get you all started so you’re ready to vote on May 4.
The candidates are listed in alphabetical order and I took the information only from their websites so as to be as objective as possible.
Mike Ablon
Mike Ablon’s family has been in Dallas since the 1880s. He founded the development firm, PegasusAblon, which has invested more than $1 billion in the development of North Texas, including revitalizing the Dallas Design District. He recently stepped down as Chair of the Trinity River Corridor Local Government Corporation, which intended to build a park in the Trinity River Corridor to unite the north and south parts of Dallas. His key issues are creating before and after-school programs for public school children to get academic help and aid working parents, bolstering Dallas law enforcement, conducting ethics reforms in Dallas City Hall, fixing Dallas infrastructure, improving Dallas public transportation systems and helping local businesses.
Learn more at his website.
Albert Black
Image via Albert Black for Dallas Mayor
Albert Black is founder and CEO of On-Target Supplies and Logistics, a company he built with his wife, Gwyneith. He is a longtime volunteer, serving on many boards and task forces in Dallas. He was the first African American chairman of the Dallas Regional Chamber, was Chairman of the Board for the Baylor Health Care System, and was former Chairman of the Dallas Housing Authority. As mayor, he intends to reduce housing costs and gentrification, establish better ways to give people skills for well-paying jobs, create pathways to healthcare for traditionally underserved communities, improve infrastructure and public transportation, and increase community involvement in city government.
Learn more at his website.
Scott Griggs
Scott Griggs is a four-term Dallas City Council member and intellectual property attorney at Griggs Bergen LLP. He promotes himself as “a new kind of mayor” who can “lead our city to create transformative change and bring a higher quality of life to every part of our city.” As mayor, he intends to reallocate funds from the Dallas tourism bureau to the arts and create a new cultural plan for the city, creating “neighborhood-scale” projects to revitalize Dallas neighborhoods. He also wants to establish universal pre-K for DISD schools, address climate change and ways to improve Dallas’ impact on the environment, increase transparency in city governance, improve Dallas affordable housing and preventing gentrification, improve public transportation and eliminate wasteful spending that increases taxes.
Learn more at his website.
Eric Johnson
Image via Eric Johnson for Dallas Mayor Campaign
Eric Johnson is a lawyer and has served as a State Representatives in the Texas House of Representatives since 2010. He currently serves on boards for Southwestern Medical Foundation, Let America Vote and the SMU Simmons School for Education and Human Development. He previously served on boards for the Dallas Arboretum, the Boys and Girls’ Clubs of Greater Dallas, the Arts Community Alliance, Dallas County Historical Commission, and more. “I have learned that we are best able to craft real solutions to such problems when we hear from those representing all walks of life,” he states on his website. His key issues as mayor will be the education system, the functionality of Dallas government, ethics in government, the public safety system, infrastructure, neighborhood vitality and public transportation.
Learn more at his website.
Alyson Kennedy
Alyson Kennedy does not have a candidacy website, and since I am only taking information from candidates’ websites to remain as objective as possible, I cannot write on her key issues. However, if you would like to learn more about Kennedy, check out this profile from WFAA Dallas.
Lynn McBee
Image via Lynn McBee for Mayor Campaign
Lynn McBee worked as a research scientist for one of the world’s leading genomic research companies for 25 years before serving as CEO of a statewide non-profit, Young Women’s Prep Network, and volunteering for Meals on Wheels and The Family Place. She has never served public office and has touted that as her advantage, because she believes it means she brings a fresh perspective that has not been soured by years in the public sector. She states on her website, “I’m not a politician, I’m a community leader with a big heart for Dallas.” The key issues she intends to focus on as mayor are Dallas infrastructure, police and law enforcement relationships with local neighborhoods, bringing higher education and lower attrition rates for Dallas students, and bringing resources to those suffering from poverty and lack of opportunity.
Learn more at her website.
Regina Montoya
Image via Regina Montoya for Mayor
Regina Montoya was a lawyer for firm Akin Gump, was Senior Vice President of Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, CEO of the New America Alliance, a visiting professor at UT Dallas, and served as an assistant to President Bill Clinton. In her non-profit work, she served on the board of DFW Airport, Texas Book Festival, Girls Inc., the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and more. As mayor, her key issues will be reducing housing costs in Dallas, improving the education system in the city and helping students get professional experience through internships and paths to higher education, reducing key drivers of poverty, and strengthening the Dallas public safety system.
Learn more at her website.
Miguel Solis
Image via the Miguel Solis Campaign
Miguel Solis is the youngest candidate in the mayoral race. At 32, he has been a Dallas public school teacher, the youngest trustee on the Dallas ISD board, and the leader of a national non-profit. He has stated Dallas’s need for vibrancy and energy, which he believes he brings to Dallas as its youngest candidate and potential mayor. His website states that he is “committed to making Dallas a better place to live and work, no matter who you are or how you grew up.” His key issues of concern are providing all Dallas residents access to its booming economy, helping all students in the DISD system reach their full potential, updating zoning and building laws to require affordable housing in all new developments, helping law enforcement officials afford to live in Dallas instead of surrounding cities, fixing Dallas infrastructure, and helping Dallas break down racial and cultural barriers to improve diversity.
Learn more at his website.
Jason Villalba
Image via Wikipedia
Jason Villalba is an attorney who currently works as a corporate lawyer for Foley Gardere and then went on to serve as a legislator in the Texas House of Representatives in 2013. Villalba has outlined a 5-point plan he intends to follow as Dallas mayor. The 5 issues are reducing taxes for seniors, updating Dallas infrastructure, fixing the wage and pension system for Dallas law enforcement and firefighters, revitalizing South Dallas, and bringing big ideas to Dallas to get big things done. He is using his position in the Texas Legislature as proof he will be a successful mayor, stating on his website, “My record in the Texas Legislature is clear. I know how to get things done.”
Learn more at his website.
There are a lot of candidates, and a lot of issues to consider. Be sure to vote on May 4! You have a voice and the power to determine the future of Dallas, so use it. To find out more about polling stations and voting procedures, go to ballotpedia.org