Voter turnout for Dallas City Council races has declined for the last three election cycles, and trends suggest that it will remain low for the upcoming May 3 election.

Despite nearly all 14 city districts having contested races, the lack of a citywide mayoral contest and little else on the ballot appear to be the recipe for numbers hovering around the 8% turnout from the 2023 election.

“Having just one or two things on the ballot tends to drive turnout down,” said David de la Fuente, a Democratic strategist and campaign manager for incumbent District 1 council member Chad West. “It’s hard to convince people to show up and vote for one thing.”

Meanwhile, the heads of Dallas County’s Democrat and Republican parties say their groups are launching voter campaigns focused on the nonpartisan Dallas City Council races. They hope it will help boost turnout. Their efforts will begin this month and include texting voters.

“It’s all about principles and that’s what we want to focus on — quality of life for the citizens of Dallas, their safety and security and better economic opportunities,” said County GOP chairman Allen West, noting the group actively recruited people to run for Dallas council seats but declined to name who. “I think a lot of people see the Dallas City Council as being detached from reality and definitely detached from serving the citizens of the city of Dallas, and that’s one of the big points that we’re going to stress.”

As an example, he cited voters in November passing city charter amendments Propositions S and U despite the entire 15-member council urging residents to reject them.

Proposition S requires the city to waive its governmental immunity and allows any resident to file a lawsuit alleging the municipal government isn’t complying with the charter, local ordinances or state law.

Proposition U requires the City Council to approve setting aside at least 50% of any excess yearly revenue for the police and fire pension system. It mandates the city maintain a minimum of 4,000 officers while increasing police starting pay and other benefits to among the highest in North Texas.

The department has around 3,160 officers and public safety will be one of the key issues debated by candidates across the city.

“I think people are starting to understand that the level of governance that is really most important is the one that is closest to them,” the county GOP chair said.

Dallas County is a Democrat stronghold. Voters have selected the Democratic Party representative in the most recent elections for U.S. president, U.S. senator, state governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and comptroller— elected positions all held by Republicans. The Dallas County Commissioners Court has Democrats elected to all five seats.

“We’re hoping the candidates get out there and work to help increase voter turnout, but we’ll be there from the party side to make sure that we’re talking to voters to help increase turnout as well,” said Kardal Coleman, Dallas County Democratic Party chair.

“We want to educate the voters on who’s running, but also that there’s an election happening.”

The vast majority of city voters live in Dallas County, though a handful in Far North Dallas’ District 12 are in Collin or Denton counties. Over the last 10 years, voter participation in Dallas City Council elections in Dallas County has not cracked 15%, records show.

Dallas County voter turnout for Dallas City Council elections in May 2015 and May 2017 hovered around 7%, or less than 50,000 voters each, in election cycles where several races were uncontested.

Participation shot up to around 12% — nearly 82,000 Dallas County voters — in May 2019, largely boosted by a competitive mayor’s race that was eventually won by Eric Johnson. That percentage lowered to about 11% or close to 69,000 voters in May 2021 when there was no mayoral election but the remaining 14 council seats were all contested. In May 2023, 8% or almost 52,000 of voters participated in an election cycle where Johnson was the only name on the ballot for mayor and all but one of the 14 single district seats had at least two candidates.

The margin separating the first- and second-place finishers in the May 2023 elections ranged from more than 2,770 votes in East Dallas’ District 9 to a little over 250 votes in District 6 in West Dallas.

“Partisanship always sort of lurks behind nonpartisan elections and candidates will make their partisan leanings more visible if they think that will be a benefit to them,” said Cal Jillson, a Southern Methodist University political science professor. “But ultimately, it’ll have to be local personalities and local issues that are sufficiently visible to capture the public’s attention. And I think even then, you’re still looking at a modest turnout in Dallas.”

More than 40 candidates will be on the Dallas City Council election ballot, and four of the 15 council seats will be open. Mayor Johnson is in the middle of his second and final term, which ends in 2027. District 14 council member Paul Ridley is the only incumbent without a challenger.

Single district council members are elected to two-year terms. The last day to register to vote is April 3. Early voting begins April 22 and runs through April 29. Election day is May 3.