This story has been updated throughout.
Dallas voters headed to the polls Saturday to elect their next mayor among a crowded field of nine candidates. The top two finishers, state Rep. Eric Johnson and city council member Scott Griggs, will duke it out again in an election June 8.
The candidates are vying to replace Mayor Mike Rawlings, the Democratic businessman who has served as the city’s mayor since 2011.
With so many contenders, the race was too crowded for one candidate to take more than 50 percent of the vote on Saturday– a scenario that led to a runoff election. The money flowing into the race was split up.
The Dallas mayor’s race is a nonpartisan election, but as the Dallas Morning News pointed out after the 2018 election, “The blue wave made its strongest landfall in Dallas County… The wins dealt a blow to the GOP largely due to demographic changes in the area, discontent with President Donald Trump and strong turnout for U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke.”
Also on Saturday the San Antonio mayor’s race also headed to a runoff between current Mayor Ron Nirenberg and city council member Greg Brockhouse. Mayor Betsy Price, a Republican, handily won her re-election in Ft. Worth, despite Democratic presidential candidates’ public support for the Democrat in the race.
Check out more Texas politics at the Texas Signal.
