A digital billboard sparked speculation about who may be next to enter the field of candidates for Dallas Mayor with Incumbent Mike Rawlings term limited from running.
A digital billboard appearing in Dallas sparked speculation Thursday about who may be next to enter the field of candidates for Dallas Mayor. Incumbent Mike Rawlings is term limited from running after 8 years in office.
Five people have already said they will run in the May election but the billboard suggests a sixth one will announce on January 10. Fine print on the display appears to say “Paid for by Scott Griggs Campaign.”
Dallas City Council Member Griggs declined comment Thursday. Tweets from two of his allies, Councilman Philip Kingston and former Councilmember Angela Hunt endorse a photo of the billboard.
Hunt said she is not running but will support another candidate who plans to announce next week.
Kingston did not respond to messages.
Developer Mike Ablon announced on December 19th that he will run in the May election for Mayor. Ablon said his campaign will focus on Dallas neighborhoods.
“This is about building neighborhoods. That’s what I’ve been trained to do. I only work in Dallas. That’s all I’ve done. And the business community is going to support that. The neighborhoods are going to enjoy that. This is about getting the voice of everybody to City Hall, making it transparent, making it honest and that will build trust. And that’s what we need in Dallas.” Ablon said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Civic leader Lynn McBee also joined the race in December. She only moved to Dallas recently but said that 25 years of work on many civic projects qualifies her to be Dallas Mayor.
“Really deeply serving. Having my hands dirty. Working with all different types of folks. Concentrating and focusing on finding sustainable solutions and being effective at that,” she said.
McBee currently leads the Young Women’s Preparatory Network, which provides private support for public schools but said she wants to expand her civic contribution as Mayor.
“So this is the culmination of 25 years of experience and taking it to the higher level,” she said.
Civic leader and Attorney Regina Montoya and former Dallas City Attorney Larry Casto announced in November that they will be candidates for Dallas Mayor. Businessman Albert Black, Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce President, was the first to announce a campaign for Dallas mayor in July.
“I think we’re going to have 8 to 10 candidates,” said Southern Methodist University Political Science expert Cal Jillson, a longtime observer of Dallas Mayor contests. “There’s a lot of ambition. There’s a lot of people lining up, biding their time, waiting for an opportunity. And an open seat is that opportunity.”
Jillson said City Council Members may have a slight advantage with name recognition, at least in parts of the city where they serve already but success may depend on which candidate gets the best operation going.
“They’ve got to build their campaign. They’ve got to build a management team. They’ve got to think about fundraising,” Jillson said.
Extremely successful political consultant Carol Reed has not publicly confirmed being hired by any of the candidates who have announced so far. She did not return a message from NBC 5 Thursday.
“Carol Reed is very smart. She stands back to try to identify the fast horse and then she jumps on," Jillson said. “I don’t think there’s a candidate in the race that wouldn’t want to have her.”
The official filing period for the May Dallas city election is January 16 through February 15.
Election day is Saturday, May 4 with early voting April 22 through April 30. A run off is scheduled June 8 if no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in May.
