North Arlington voters have three candidates to choose from this spring in the only Arlington City Council race without an incumbent.
Filing for the May 4 race ended Friday, but two candidates announced their campaigns over the summer after a false start in 2022: Mauricio Galante and Timothy Goss. Jacob Franklin, a tech support engineer, also filed.
Galante owns the Golf Center of Arlington and lists the Arlington Police Association, Mayor Jim Ross and District 6 Council member Long Pham among his endorsements. He lists his supporting police and firefighters, high-quality public services, low taxes and supporting local business owners among his platforms on his website.
Goss has served on the Arlington Citizen Bond Committee and the National Medal of Honor Museum’s veteran focus group. Goss’ platforms on his campaign website include lowering taxes, traffic reduction, protecting quality of life, redevelopment and keeping families safe.
Initial campaign finance reports show that Galante leads the way in fundraising. Galante reported $6,475.86 in contributions from August to Jan. 7 with $4,882.79 on hand. Goss reported $1,112.10 in contributions and $6,690.94 on hand.
The May 4 election will serve as the four council seats’ transition from two-year council terms to three under a term-limit revision voters overwhelmingly approved in 2022. Arlington City Council’s next candidate election cycle will take place in 2026, when voters will cast votes for mayor and the remaining four council seats.
District 2
Incumbent Raul Gonzalez filed Jan. 17 to run for a third and final term in council. Gonzalez, initially elected in 2020, is a retired director of business administration and former Mansfield Independent School District Board of Trustees member.
Gonzalez wrote in a press release he would continue to support “aggressive economic development of Arlington’s commercial tax base,” monitor city taxes and support the creation of jobs in town.
He also said he supports safety officers, street improvements and community services a priority. Gonzalez summarized developments during his time on council, which include budget approval for the fire department’s transition to four-person staffing, more code compliance officer positions, zoning improvements and advocacy for changes to the Tarrant Appraisal District board.
District 6 - Citywide
Incumbent Long Pham filed to run for a second term on Arlington City Council. He was first elected in 2022. Pham lists public safety, low property taxes, improved roads, education mentorship programs and improving roads and traffic congestion among his platforms on his campaign website. Pham is retired.
District 7 - Citywide
Incumbent Bowie Hogg filed Jan. 19 for re-election to District 7, an at-large council seat. His platforms listed on his campaign website includes investment in public safety, road improvements, supporting small businesses, additional code enforcement, smart redevelopment and growth and enriching neighborhood integrity.
Hogg was first elected in 2022 after 14 years of serving on the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees.
He'll run against Chris "Dobi" Dobson, who filed Feb. 16. Dobson has run in all but one local election since 2014; most recently, he ran for Arlington City Council District 4 last spring but lost to incumbent Andrew Piel. Dobson initially ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 race for U.S. Congress to represent Texas' 6th District.
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