Election News

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wins third term in Texas race against Colin Allred

Senator Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is projected to win a third term as the senator from Texas in his race against Democratic U.S. Rep Colin Allred on Tuesday.

Texas witnessed one of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races in history as the candidates raised more than $160 million combined this election.

An Allred victory would have given Texas its first Black senator and boost the Democrats' chances of maintaining their narrow Senate majority. Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.

The Associated Press proclaimed Cruz the winner. As of 10:39 pm, Cruz had 5,580,956 votes or 53.8 percent, while Allred had 4,563,546 votes or 44 percent; Libertarian Ted Brown drew 231,050 votes or 2.2 percent.

Allred is a Dallas native and former NFL linebacker who played college football at Baylor before entering politics. After suffering a neck injury in a game against the Dallas Cowboys, he enrolled in law school at the University of California, Berkeley.

Allred got into Texas politics in 2014 while working as a voter protection lawyer for then-gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis and the Democratic political group, Battleground Texas. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, defeating long-time Congressman Pete Sessions.

According to the Associated Press, Democrat Julie Johnson won the U.S. House seat that Allred vacated to run for the Senate. Johnson is a trial attorney who will be the first openly gay member of Congress from Texas. She served three terms as a state lawmaker, where she championed LGTBQ rights at the state Capitol. She has also said that women's health care would be a priority of hers in Congress and that she would vote to put abortion rights in federal law.
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Read the full story at KVUE.com. This story also includes a short passage from coverage by the Associated Press..

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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