Mansfield

Mansfield And Denton Elect First Black Mayors in Runoff Races

NBCUniversal, Inc.

The citizens of Mansfield elected Dr. Michael Evans, Sr. as their first Black mayor in the 130-year history of the city on Tuesday.

"We thank the constituency, the voters. They did that thing, you know, they did it," said Evans.

Evans is the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, the oldest Black church in Tarrant County, Mansfield officials said.

Evans won the mayoral race with 52.7% of the vote over Brent Newsom, a member of the Mansfield City Council.

Newsom, whose term on the city council expires in May 2022, won 47.3% of the vote, Mansfield officials said.

Evans will take the seat held by David Cook, who stepped down to run for a seat in the Texas House. Cook won the race for state representative for District 96, which represents southern Tarrant County.

Evans and Newsom advanced to the runoff after facing off with city councilman Terry Moore, a city councilman and medical equipment salesman, and George Fassett, the CEO of a management consulting firm, in November.

Evans believes that his elections shows a lot about growth in Mansfield.

"When you go back 40, 50 years, again, we were a very divided community in regard to people groups, race relations. It was not the best. Matter of fact, it had been noted for that. But you know, when cities continue to evolve, they continue to grow. We learn that we have more in common than we do otherwise," added Dr. Michael Evans.

In Denton, Gerard Hudspeth, will be sworn in as the next mayor.

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, in unofficial returns, he received 58% of the vote.

 “I want young people that look like me to understand that they can be the next Mayor of the City of Denton or any city that they live in. I want to engage with UNT students, and TWU students and NCT kids so they understand local politics, and then I also want to get about the city bouncing back,” Hudspeth said.

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, in unofficial returns, he received 58% of the vote. He beat Keely Briggs. 

Hudspeth was a city council member and Mayor Pro-Tem. 

Hudspeth says it really starting to sink in, in the middle of the campaign that what he has done, has not been done before.

“It starts with unity. It starts with bringing people together after a very long campaign process. There are people that did not support me that I want to try and earn their support," Hudspeth added.

NBC 5's Julie Fine contributed to this report.

Contact Us