Dallas, TX
Will Dallas voters show up to the polls for the May 3 city election?
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.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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