Election News

More than 40 candidates file to run for 2023 Dallas City Council election

More than 40 candidates are vying to work in this building.

Photo courtesy of PCF

The next election for Dallas City Council election is May 6, and 43 candidates have filed to run for office.

Two representatives - Adam McGough and Casey Thomas - have reached the end of their term limit, leaving those districts open to a new council member. One council member, Cara Mendelsohn, is running uncontested, as well as Mayor Eric Johnson.

All 14 council districts will be on the ballot for two-year terms.

Place 1 - Oak Cliff

Chad West - incumbent
Mariana Griggs - teacher, neighborhood activist, ex-wife of former council member Scott Griggs
Albert Mata - former telecom engineer, Hispanic advocate

Place 2 - Deep Ellum, Love Field, Casa View

Jesse Moreno - incumbent
Sukhbir Kaur

Place 3 - Southwest Dallas, vacant seat left by Casey Thomas

Zarin Gracey - director of the Office of Business Diversity for city of Dallas
Joe Tave - radio host and return candidate who ran in 2017
August Doyle - previously worked for city of Dallas in code, public works, and recycling, and DISD teacher
Denise Benavides - former president of LULAC Grand Prairie who has a nonprofit, ran in 2019
John Sims - entrepreneur, owner of a podcast/radio studio in Oak Cliff

Place 4 - South Dallas

Carolyn King Arnold - incumbent
Jamie Lynn Smith - accountant and first-time candidate

Place 5 - Far southeast Dallas

Jaime Resendez - incumbent
Yolanda Faye Williams - former city council assistant, repeat candidate
Terry Perkins - retired pastor, return candidate who ran in 2021

Place 6 - West Dallas

Omar Narvaez - incumbent
Tony Carrillo - return candidate who ran in 2017
Monica Alonzo - former council member defeated by Narvaez
Sidney Robles-Martinez - community activist and elections political consultant

Place 7 - Far east Dallas, Just south of I-30

Adam Bazaldua - incumbent
Okema Thomas - community activist and get-out-the-vote advocate
Tracy Dotie Hill - realtor and loan officer
Marvin E. Crenshaw - repeat candidate
Delmar Lamar Jefferson - one of two twin brothers running for office (his brother Jrmar filed to run for Mayor)

Place 8 - Far southeast Dallas

Tennell Atkins - incumbent
Subrina Brenham - income tax professional and return candidate who ran in 2021
Davante Peters - community organizer, return candidate who ran in 2021 and 2019 (in District 3)

Place 9 - Northeast Dallas, Lakewood

Paula Blackmon - incumbent
Kendra Madison - marketing professional, Houston transplant

Place 10 - Northeast Dallas, Lake Highlands, vacant seat left by Adam McGough

Sirrano Keith Baldeo - litigious and eccentric, was a candidate in 2019
Brian Hasenbauer - marketing professional, one-time City of Dallas Community Development Commissioner
Katherine Stewart - lawyer and former director of Uptown Dallas, Inc.
Chris Carter - wasted taxpayer money with lawsuit to keep Confederate monuments, got thrown out of neighborhood meeting by cops
Barbara Markham - former police officer in The Colony

Place 11 - North Dallas/central

Jaynie Schultz - incumbent
Candace Evans - founder of Candy's Dirt real estate blog, return candidate

Place 12 - Far North Dallas

Cara Mendelsohn - incumbent

Place 13 - North/northwest Dallas

Gay Donnell Willis - incumbent
Priscilla Shacklett - realtor, developer, poll watcher anxious about "voting fraud"

Place 14 - Oak Lawn, Greenville Avenue, downtown Dallas

Paul Ridley - incumbent
Amanda Schulz - AKA Amanda Tenpenny Schulz, former Parks Board appointed by David Blewett (who lost to Paul Ridley)
Joseph Miller - retired engineer

Place 15 (Mayor) - City of Dallas

Eric Johnson - incumbent

The candidate filings are here. Candidates who ran in 2021 are here, and candidates who ran in 2019 are here.

politics city-news-roundup

income analysis

This is how much a single-income family needs to make in Texas in 2026

Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash

The income needed for a single-income household to raise a child in Texas is lower than it was last year.

With childrearing costs in the Lone Star State adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per year, many Texas families are navigating a difficult decision: should both parents work or should one parent stay home to raise the child?

For Texas families that choose the latter, the working parent needs to make nearly $73,000 per year to support their child and the stay-at-home parent, a new income analysis has revealed.

The newly released SmartAsset report used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to estimate the annual living wages needed across all 50 states for a three-person household with two working adults and one child, and a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. Costs included food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes, and "other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent needs to make $72,925 to support their stay-at-home counterpart and their child, the study found. That's $1,809 less than what was needed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the combined income needed for a household with one child and both parents working full-time is $85,030.

Texas ranked No. 42 in SmartAsset's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working parent, one stay-at-home parent, and one child. That also situates Texas as the 9th most affordable state for single-income families. But there are risks associated with only having one breadwinner in the family.

"A single income family with small children potentially saves in child care costs over a household with two working parents," the report's author wrote. "The main disadvantages are the lost salary and retirement contributions, Social Security earnings history and employer health benefits."

There aren't any specific tax benefits to having a parent stay at home to raise their child full time, but SmartAsset says single-income families can claim a tax credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"[S]ingle-income families may claim the Child Tax Credit — up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 ($1,700 refundable) — on the same terms as any other family," the report said.

SmartAsset's latest report only looks at costs on a statewide basis, but the cost to raise a child will also vary greatly depending on the city you live in. Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth might pose a challenge for some families, where the cost for childcare alone adds up to $10,736 and overall costs can surpass $23,000.

For households with two children, there might be additional strains on what a family might consider a "comfortable living." A March 2026 SmartAsset study determined a Dallas family with two working parents need to make a combined income of $214,490 to have a financially stable life while raising two children.

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income needed for single-income families are:

Arkansas ($68,869)
Mississippi ($70,054)
Kentucky ($70,179)
West Virginia ($70,283)
North Dakota ($71,219)
Oklahoma ($71,365)
Louisiana ($71,406)
Missouri ($72,862)
Texas ($72,925)
Tennessee ($72,946)

smartasset reports texas family income

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income analysis

This is how much a single-income family needs to make in Texas in 2026