Ahead of the start of early voting for the June 5 runoff, the Fort Worth Report and KERA hosted a virtual debate between Fort Worth mayoral runoff candidates Deborah Peoples and Mattie Parker.
Peoples and Parker were the top two vote-getters in the May 1 election. Peoples, the chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, finished first with 22,551 votes. Parker, the former chief of staff to Mayor Betsy Price, received 20,964 votes. They came out on top of a field of 10 mayoral candidates vying to replace Price, the city’s longest-serving mayor.
The contenders faced off Tuesday, May 18 at noon. Watch the event below, on Facebook Live or YouTube. Listen to the debate on KERA News 90.1 FM May 25 from 7-8 p.m.
About The Debate
Sam Baker, KERA senior editor and local host for “Morning Edition," moderated the debate.
The candidates fielded in-depth questions about three topics from a panel of journalists representing both news organizations: Fort Worth Report CEO and publisher Chris Cobler, Report investigative journalist Jessica Priest and KERA’s Fort Worth reporter Miranda Suarez.
Early voting begins May 24 and ends June 1. Polls will be closed on May 31 for Memorial Day.
Regardless of who wins, Fort Worth’s next mayor will make history. Peoples, 68, would be the city’s first Black mayor, and Parker, 37, would be the youngest mayor of any major U.S. city.
