Mattie Parker, Deborah Peoples head to June 5 runoff in race for Fort Worth mayor

Fort Worth voters will chose a new mayor for the first time in a decade in June with Mattie Parker and Deborah Peoples apparently headed to the runoff.

Mayor Betsy Price’s decision not to seek an unprecedented sixth term sparked 10 candidates to run, including two council members, the Tarrant County Democratic Party chairwoman and a slew of political newcomers.

According unofficial results in Tarrant County, Peoples, a former AT&T vice president, led with 33.60% of the vote Saturday night while Parker, a former Price chief of staff, had 30.82%, with all 176 vote centers reporting. Council member Brian Byrd was in third place with 14.75%.

Parker and Peoples maintained the upper hand with results for Denton County. There, Parker took 35.17% of the vote compared to 16% for Peoples. In Parker County, Parker had 42% of the vote followed by Byrd’s 23.3%. Peoples had 12.5%.

The runoff will be June 5.

In Tarrant County, Steve Penate, a real estate broker, had 9.38% while council member Ann Zadeh had 8.64%.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peoples held a private watch party for family, close friends and campaign volunteers. Reached by phone, Peoples said she was “very excited” about the results and believed Fort Worth voters were ready for a change.

“People know how much I love this city,” she said, adding that “every side of town is my side of town.”

Parker held a lively gathering at Lola’s Trailer Park where Price and retiring council member Dennis Shingleton were among supporters. Parker said she was optimistic heading into the runoff and happy to see two women lead the race.

“It’s time for us to cast our own visions for Fort Worth and the future,” Parker said.

Across the board candidates pledged to keep Fort Worth property taxes in check. The city has attempted to lower its tax rate throughout Price’s tenure, though most homeowner continue to pay more as property values increase.

Church support propelled Byrd, a physician and former CEO of Texas Hospice, to office over incumbent Zim Zimmerman in 2017. He appealed to conservatives again in his bid for mayor with an endorsement from Republican U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, a former Fort Worth mayor. Lacking a police endorsement, Byrd’s campaign used a stock photo of a burning car during a Paris riot in an attempt to establish him as the law and order candidate.

Byrd’s campaign went after Parker for a lack of business experience with an “all hat and no cattle” campaign ad.

For many voters Parker likely represents the best continuation of Price’s policies.

Parker, founding chief executive officer of education nonprofits Fort Worth Cradle to Career and the Tarrant To & Through Partnership, spent five years as the chief of staff for Price and the council. Price endorsed Parker along with the police and firefighter’s associations. Parker also received endorsements and campaign contributions from some of Fort Worth’s most prominent residents, including members of the billionaire Bass family.

Like Price, Parker said she would focus on education and early childhood development as way to improve Fort Worth’s workforce and spur greater economic development. The mayor has no official role in education, but Price has used her influence to create a reading program and draw attention to the need for better child support.

In support of Parker, the Fort Worth Firefighters Committee for Responsible Government paid for an ad attacking Byrd’s voting record on the city’s pension system.

Parker said she wanted to keep negativity out of the runoff campaign and would focus on policy and issues.

Though she was excited about the race, not everyone at Lola’s was thrilled. At one point a woman could be heard yelling, but it was unclear what sparked the outburst. Parker said the woman had wanted to speak to her but appeared too upset.

Angst from the 2020 presidential election may be seeping into local races, Parker said, but she pledged to run a nonpartisan campaign. Though she’s a Republican, Parker said she wanted to represent the entire city.

“We’re trying to unite the community,” she said.

In 2019, Peoples gave Price the most contested race since the mayor was first elected, though just 38,743 people cast ballots in the election.

This time around Peoples campaigned more aggressively, earning several endorsements including Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks, Texas Board of Education member Aicha Davis and the Tarrant County Labor Council. The Collective PAC, a national political action committee focused on electing Black candidates to local offices, also supported her campaign.

Though the chairwoman of the county Democratic Party, Peoples largely avoided partisan politics, and campaigned on a message of unity called “One Fort Worth,” similar to her 2019 bid.

Peoples said voters seemed to pick up on her 30 years in the business world, adding that she thought people wanted someone with significant prior leadership experience in the mayor’s office.

“I think they saw me as an experienced leader and they don’t want to maintain the status quo,” Peoples said.

Of the top contenders, Zadeh, who has a background as a city planner, ran the quietest campaign, relying on name recognition as the council’s most progressive voice. She earned the endorsement of the Tarrant Transit Alliance, which said she was best position to improve Fort Worth’s lackluster transit system.

Penate has relied heavily on support from Mercy Culture, an evangelical church where he is a pastor.

City Council District 2

In District 2, incumbent Carlos Flores is on his way to another term with 64.94% of the vote. Jennifer Sarduy, a communications manager, had about 16.58% and Juan Sixtos, an engineer, had 10.33%.

The district north of downtown includes the Historic Stockyards District and several diverse neighborhoods as well as Meacham Airport and northern suburbs.

District 3

In the Fort Worth’s western-most District 3, Michael Crain, district director for Byrd and a Real Estate broker, had and early lead with 71.32%. Tonya Carter, who works in customer service, had 6.66%, and Kaite Johnson, self-employed, had 7.13%.

District 3 includes the growing Walsh area and stretches into Parker County. Crain had more than 75% in Parker County where early results showed 67 votes.

District 4

Councilman Cary Moon had an early lead over four opponents with 51.396% of the vote. Tara Wilson, a registered nurse, followed with 28.13%.

District 4 includes several older east side neighborhoods and stretches north to the east side of the AllianceTexas corridor.

District 5

In District 5, council member Gyna Bivens was leading with 62.81% of the vote. Bob Willoughby, who works in entertainment merchandise, had 11.193% followed by Antonio (Twin) Harris, who works in lawn care, with 8.88%. Mar’Tayshia James, collector, had 9.21% Richard Vazquez, Republican precinct chairman, had 7.92%.

The district reaches to far east Fort Worth and include DFW Airport and the American Airlines headquarters as well as Stop Six and other neighborhoods.

District 6

Council member Jungus Jordan, the longest serving council member, had 43.71% followed by Jared Williams, an educator and nonprofit leader, who had 34.41%. Tiesa Leggett had 21.82%.

The southwestern district includes the new Tarleton State campus.

A Fort Worth Police Officer’s Association endorsement of Jordan created controversy earlier this week. A mailer noting support for Jordan listed several candidates who ran in 2017 and 2019 who are not running now. It left Leggett off entirely.

District 7

Shingleton’s retirement drew 10 to the District 7 race. Zeb Pent, self-employed, led with 32.70%. Leonard Firestone, entrepreneur, had 27.73% and Lee Henderson, a political strategist, was in third place with 15.65%.

In Denton County, Pent had 34% of the vote followed by Firestone, who had almost 14%. Early results 676 votes.

District 8

In District 8 Christopher Nettles led incumbent council member Kelly Allen Gray 45.87% to 43.50%.

The east side district includes neighborhoods in the 76104 ZIP code where a lack of access to health care, groceries and other resources as driven life expectancy to a statewide low. The Star-Telegram explored life in the area in a 2020 series that’s resulted increased focus on neighborhoods there.

Disrict 9

Zadeh’s decision to leave diverse District 9, which includes downtown, the booming Near Southside and several Hispanic neighborhoods, drew nine candidates.

Elizabeth Beck, a lawyer who ran for the Texas House last year, had an early lead with 42.79%. Fernando Peralta, a logistics specialist and president of the Rosemont neighborhood followed with 12.50%. Jared Sloane, an operations director had 11.15%.