With final voting results counted, three incumbents retained their seats and a local coffeehouse owner is set to join the Denton City Council. Local businessman Joey Hawkins, 38, won in District 4, beating Phil Kregel, 28, by a margin of more than a 2-1.
Voters re-elected three incumbents to the Denton school board Saturday. Trustees Glenna Harris in Place 3, Mia Price in Place 4 and Charles Stafford in Place 5 will retain their seats on the seven-member board after each receiving more than two-thirds of the votes in their respective races.
Denton voters approved a proposition that gives the city authority to sell natural gas to nonresidential customers in the industrial park on the city’s west side.
Incumbent Bruce Hanson, 47, lost by eight votes to newcomer Mike Amason, 32, in the only contested race in Corinth. Amason defeated Hanson 329 votes to 321.
Courtney Tankersley was elected to a full term in Place 7 on the Lake Dallas school board Saturday in the district’s first contested race in five years.
Denton County voters had only trickled into the polls when early voting ended Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, a little more than 7,500 of the county’s estimated 380,000 voters had cast ballots for local elections since April 29.
Here are the polling sites for area city and school district elections, listing the town and precinct. On election day, voters must cast their ballots at the location designated for their precinct. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Denton County’s early voting turnout has been slower than the coming of spring. County elections administrator Frank Phillips said that as of noon Saturday, a little more than 4,500 of the county’s estimated 380,000 registered voters had cast ballots since Monday in local elections.
ARGYLE — The race for the Argyle Town Council Place 2 seat pits incumbent David Wintermute against Kay Jenkins Teer, who served on the council in the 1990s.
KRUM — Mayor Terri Wilson is seeking re-election this May and she is opposed by Larry Lamonica, who served as mayor before Wilson unseated him in 2007.
Early voting kicks off today in Denton County. Numerous races fill area ballots, giving people the opportunity to shape the development of their cities by voting on everything from city and school district leaders to propositions.
Three places on the Denton school board are on the ballot for the May 11 election.
Early voting will be conducted at the following locations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 6-7:
Denton school board candidates shared their views on the STAAR test, school finance and budget cuts at election forums this week.
Denton City Council hopefuls sparred in their last forum of the political season at an event hosted Thursday night by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.
JUSTIN — The race for the mayor’s seat in Justin has Mayor Greg Scott and City Council member Diane Rasor vying for the city’s top office.
KRUM — City officials are leaving the issuance of $4.6 million in tax bonds up to the voters, who will decide May 11 on five propositions that include the construction of a new fire station and library.
CORINTH — The election in Corinth places City Council member Bruce Hanson and newcomer Mike Amason against each other in a race for the Place 5 seat. Both candidates have similar goals that call for the city to prepare for growth and connect with and listen to its residents.
Neither Phil Kregel nor Joey Hawkins is new to the political scene, but neither has ever held elected office either. Now, they are squaring off for the District 4 seat on the Denton City Council. Both hope to replace outgoing council member Chris Watts, who is leaving in May.
By the time the audience finished trickling in, more than 50 people — including some present and former City Council members — listened to current council hopefuls in a forum organized by the Denton Neighborhood Alliance at City Hall Thursday night.
The first round of campaign finance reports for the May 11 election show the race for support, and for spending, is on its way.
A Denton landlord and retired wildlife biologist Alfredo F. Sanchez is challenging City Council incumbent Dalton Gregory, a retired educator who is seeking his third term serving District 2.
Denton voters will have several opportunities to hear city and school district hopefuls respond to questions during candidate forums in the next three weeks.
Denton City Council District 3 candidates profiles, finance reports and voting history
A small forum for both school and city candidates at Robson Ranch this week underscored the diversity of constituents in Denton’s far-flung District 3, as well as their wide-ranging interests, from students who live on or near the University of North Texas campus and the older adults at Robson Ranch to residents in some of the city’s most established neighborhoods.
Denton County Sheriff William Travis presented his version of the “state of the union address” before Commissioners Court on Tuesday morning. The report, Travis said during a phone interview, was to present what had been going on within the Denton County Sheriff’s Office since he took over Jan. 1.
Denton City Council candidates differentiated themselves on a couple of key topics during the first forum of the season, conducted this week by the Denia Area Community Group. Former City Council member Linnie McAdams served as moderator Monday night, rounding up questions from the audience that ranged from topics in the headlines to those bandied about the water cooler. The candidates’ answers in both types of topics allowed some of the sharpest differences to emerge among them.
Jeff Mateer, general counsel of Liberty Institute, will be the featured speaker at the Thursday monthly meeting of the Denton County Republican Party. He is expected to address religious liberty.
Congressman Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, can make quick work counting how many times Texas’ congressional delegation has spent time with the president since Barack Obama was first elected. And that includes Wednesday’s closed-door session the Texas delegation had with President Obama on the budget, immigration and gun control.
After publishing his own, most recent campaign finance report on the Precinct 1 website, County Commissioner Hugh Coleman proposed this week that the other commissioners do the same.
A pair of bills filed Friday with the Texas Legislature would give the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services the authority to close or consolidate any of its 13 state-supported living centers.
ARGYLE — The decisions of three Argyle residents to withdraw from the town’s mayoral race has left the seat unopposed, and officials hope the change will end the conflicts in Town Hall, many of which have revolved around the current mayor.
Author Carol Everett, the founder and president of the Heidi Group, will be the featured speaker at today’s meeting of the Denton Republican Women’s Club.
Longtime Denton resident and business owner Brendan Carroll filed Monday to run for District 3 of the Denton City Council. Carroll, 43, is the owner of a private information technology company, Blooming Technologies. A native of Wichita Falls, Carroll moved to Denton with his family in 1984 and later graduated from Denton High School.
Representatives from Denton County are working to address a host of concerns related to the city, county and education. The delegation of officials is in Austin for Denton County Days, which began Monday and runs through today as part of the 83rd session of the Texas Legislature.
Elections officials said they expect to finalize this week new precinct lines that reflect redistricting for the city of Denton. Once the final maps are prepared, Frank Phillips, county elections administrator, says the county commissioners’ court must approve them, which will likely be scheduled for the first week of March. Soon after, city voters can expect to see their voter registration cards in the mail with new precinct numbers.
With the 83rd Texas Legislature in full swing, local representatives say they are anxious to tackle their committee assignments. “Serving is an honor,” said freshman Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Frisco, who was just elected to the House this past November for the new District 106. “The work you do on committee is very, very important.”
The Denton County Republican Party announced Monday that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott will speak at a fundraising luncheon at noon Wednesday at the Oakmont Country Club, 1901 Oakmont Drive in Corinth.
Joey Hawkins, owner of Jupiter House Coffee, has filed preliminary paperwork for a City Council campaign and confirmed that he plans to run for Denton’s District 4.
The Denton County Republican Party is hard at work finding a constable for Precinct 1. Constable Jim Dotson died in December after more than a year battling cancer. Pat Taylor, the chief deputy, has been serving as constable in the interim as officials search for a replacement.
The Denton County Commissioners Courtroom was filled to the brim New Year’s morning as friends and family turned out to support the 12 new and returning elected officials as they were sworn into office. Commissioners, judges, constables, a tax assessor and a new sheriff took their turns pledging to uphold the duties of their office to repeated rounds of applause from the people gathered there.
Effects of the weak state and national economy notwithstanding, significant changes came in 2012 as Denton area residents voted or advocated for them. However, for changes residents have sought to Denton’s gas well rules since 2009, another year of advocating, cajoling, pushing, arguing, demonstrating and wheedling brought scant progress. A moratorium adopted in early 2012 continues into 2013.
Denton County gained 44,200 new registered voters this presidential election. More new voters can mean more long lines.
Denton County voters flocked to the polls Tuesday to elect a president, bringing concerns such as women’s rights, health care, education and the economy. Party affiliations aside, voters said the election represented how America would be defined in the next few years.
After 10:30 p.m. Tuesday some voters in Denton County were still filling out their ballots. “Dan F. Long Middle School in Carrollton and some places in Frisco were very heavily trafficked,” said Frank Phillips, the Denton County elections administrator.
