Fort Worth voters will decide three runoffs June 10, but only candidates running for the boards of Tarrant County College and Fort Worth ISD will attend a Fort Worth Report-hosted debate.
What questions do you have?
To submit questions for the May 25 runoff debate, please email moderator Chris Cobler at chris.cobler@fortworthreport.org.
Fort Worth ISD District 5 candidates CJ Evans and Kevin Lynch and TCC District 4 candidates Bill Greenhill and Laura Forkner Pritchett will participate in the debate at 5:30 p.m. May 25 in Texas Wesleyan University’s Nick and Lou Martin Center, 3165 E. Rosedale St. Chris Cobler, CEO and publisher of the Report, will moderate.
Early voting begins May 30 and ends June 6. Election Day is June 10.
The debate will not feature Jeanette Martinez and Rick Herring, the two runoff candidates vying for the newly created District 11 seat on the Fort Worth City Council.
Herring agreed to participate, while Martinez declined.
Martinez cited her job working for Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks, in-person campaigning and an upcoming family health matter for why she will not debate Herring.
Where is Fort Worth City Council District 11?
The District 11 seat on the Fort Worth City Council will represent parts of east Fort Worth and an arm that extends into south-central Fort Worth, colloquially referred to as a “horseshoe.”
The seat was designed as a Hispanic opportunity district, with the hopes of securing more diverse representation on the City Council. About 63% of the district’s residents are Hispanic.
She also pointed to her multiple appearances at forums in the months leading up to the first round of voting on May 6 as another reason for her absence at the Report’s upcoming debate.
“With less than 30 days before the runoff, it’s now all about person-to-person campaigning,” Martinez said in a statement. “My husband, children, friends and I will give it our best to win so I can deliver results for District 11’s families and businesses.”
Herring is ready to talk about the issues facing District 11, he said. Residents deserve to see a candid conversation between the two candidates, Herring added.
Voters need to be able to make an informed decision at the ballot box, Herring said.
“Jeanette and I are aligned on some issues, but there are other areas where we have pretty different perspectives on some things about the district, like how to unify the district going forward and what some priorities are,” Herring told the Report. “I already have a list of 15 things that I want to start working on the day after the election.”
Martinez received 1,082 votes to Herring’s 1,016 in the first round of voting. They beat out three other candidates seeking a two-year term on the Fort Worth City Council.
Evans, a first-term incumbent, and Lynch, the top vote-getter on May 6, are vying for the District 5 seat on the Fort Worth ISD school board. Lynch received 45.5% of votes to Evans’ 31.6% — a nearly 14 percentage point difference. They faced a third candidate.
They are seeking a four-year term to represent parts of west Fort Worth ISD, including areas around Tanglewood Elementary, Como Elementary, Arlington Heights High School and Burton Hill Elementary.
Greenhill, a longtime incumbent, and Pritchett, a Tarrant County Republican precinct chair, are seeking to represent District 4 on the TCC board of trustees. Pritchett received the most votes on Election Day, earning 42.25% of the vote. She was almost 12 percentage points ahead of Greenhill, who received 30.46%. They beat two other candidates on the ballot, one of whom suspended his campaign.
The winner will earn a six-year term representing west Fort Worth, Azle, Haslet, Watauga, North Richland Hills and Haltom City on the TCC board.
Jacob Sanchez is an enterprise journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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