A loose alliance of candidates with ties to the Krum Fire Department was enough to oust the incumbents on the City Council, but not enough to pull in the department’s former administrative assistant, Nicole Collins­worth, to Place 3.

Longtime resident Judy Kindiger, 42, a customer-service representative at First United Bank & Trust, was the spoiler, by capturing 57 percent to 24-year-old Collinsworth’s 43 percent of votes. About 14 percent of the city’s 2,068 registered voters cast ballots.

Whether it was experience, age difference, or simply the fact that she’s lived in Krum for a decade and knows a lot of people, Kindiger wasn’t sure why her campaign prevailed.

“But I’m grateful it did,” she said. “I’m a little overwhelmed right now.” 

Collinsworth declined to comment.

The former interim fire chief, Matt Kilgore, 36, defeated incumbent Alice Carr, 43, capturing 60 percent of the 297 votes cast in that race.

Stephanie Thom­p­son, 29, president of the Krum Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary, defeated incumbent Chris Rodriguez, 49, but by a narrower margin. Thompson secured 54 percent of the 291 votes in that race.

Thompson said voters were ready for positive change.

“Hopefully, I will exceed their expectations,” Thompson said. 

Rodriguez did not immediately return a call for comment.

Kilgore said he was excited and felt great about the win, but hesitated to say for sure what resonated with voters.

“In walking around, I think just talking to people, they said we really need some changes,” Kilgore said. “They said a fresh start on the council will do it.”

Carr said she wasn’t surprised at the outcome because of some of the rumors that flew around town in the last few days before the election.

But she was ready to make a change of her own.

“I’ll be volunteering in another part of the city,” Carr said, adding that she’s going to start helping out at the library.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .