Voters will hit the polls for local runoff elections on June 7 in Collin County.
Several races have attracted considerable controversy, including the race for McKinney mayor and Frisco city council place 2.
McKinney
Mayor
Former city council member Bill Cox, who received 47% of the vote in the four-person mayor race in the general election, faces Scott Sanford in the runoff race. Sanford received about 41% of the vote in the general election.
Cox, a principal at a local real estate firm, served as the at-large city council member and mayor pro tem. He said at a McKinney mayoral debate his experience and ties to McKinney will be an asset as mayor.
“I've seen it when it was a small town, and I've seen what it is now, and I understand completely what it will take to take McKinney into the future,” Cox said.
Sanford, who served McKinney in the state legislature from 2013 to 2023, said at the debate he’d help the city manage growth as mayor. McKinney is the seat of Collin County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We’re at this exciting crossroads of history in McKinney, with great opportunity in front of us, where we can embrace the vitality of the new while retaining all of the charm of the old,” he said.
Gov. Greg Abbott, along with several other prominent Collin County elected officials, has endorsed Sanford in the runoff election. McKinney Mayor George Fuller and several other city council members have backed Cox.
Fuller said he doesn’t blame Abbott for endorsing Sanford.
“He's just endorsing somebody that carried the water for initiatives that were important to the governor, and I understand it,” he said. “What I'm looking for is a leader that protects and stands for the constituents that they were elected to represent. Governors can't be familiar with McKinney, Texas.”
Fuller said Sanford didn’t engage with the community while he was in office.
“I’ve been mayor for eight years, and I remember Scott Stanford at two events on a float in the parade on July 4th,” he said.
The mayor said Sanford supported bills in the legislature that hurt McKinney residents. Sanford was asked about one of those bills at the mayoral debate. He voted in favor of a bill that limited city governments’ ability to raise property taxes, which some say hurt their budgets.
Sanford said he was voting in his constituents’ best interest.
“I voted for the taxpayer,” he said.
Airport Expansion
Cox is the chair of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which has helped move forward the McKinney airport expansion. The commission approved the site plan for the expansion in January after the city council passed a resolution expressing its support of the plan.
McKinney voters struck down $200 million in bond funds for expanding the city’s regional airport for commercial use in 2023. But the city is still moving forward with the project. The council approved $58 million in construction contracts for the expansion in early May.
Critics of the airport have said the McKinney city council is ignoring the will of the voters. But Cox said at the mayoral debate the council did listen to the will of the voters by not using property tax dollars like the bond proposed. A portion of the current funding, however, comes from sales tax dollars instead.
The construction of the airport expansion is scheduled to start soon, with the new terminal opening sometime next year. But Sanford said at the mayoral debate the expansion should be put on hold until voters elect a new mayor and city council members in the upcoming election.
“Since there is so much question and there's so much division, that it would be only reasonable for there to be a pause,” he said.
The North Texas Conservation Association recently filed a federal lawsuit seeking to void seeking to void the environmental assessment for the airport expansion. The environmental group alleges that TxDOT’s environmental assessment, which included a finding of no significant impact on the environment, failed to meet standards set in the National Environmental Policy Act. The conservation group is asking the court to remand the assessment back to TxDOT for a more thorough review.
The city said in a statement emailed to KERA it will “vigorously defend the findings” of the environmental assessment and seek to have the lawsuit dismissed.
City Council At-Large District 1
Ernest Lynch, a retired healthcare CEO, received about 29% of the vote in the general election. He faces Jim Garrison, who received around 20% of the vote.
Lynch was the CEO of Medical City McKinney until he retired last year. He was also a board member of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation and McKinney Chamber of Commerce according to his campaign website.
Lynch lists economic growth, transparency, public safety and lower taxes as issues he’d prioritize on his campaign website. He said his experience on the McKinney Economic Development Corporation would be an asset to the city council.
“By prioritizing smart investments and public-private partnerships, Ernest aims to expand the tax base while reducing the financial strain on homeowners, ensuring McKinney’s long-term fiscal health and prosperity,” Lynch said on his website.
Garrison, who challenged Collin County Commissioner Darrell Hale in the 2024 Republican primary, listed his occupation as producer on his application for a place on the ballot. His Facebook page for his campaign for county commissioner lists experience as a city council member and economic development board member.
During his run for county commissioner, Garrison told Community Impact the county needs to address growth and election integrity issues.
“The Commissioners Court is aware of the issues and is deliberately "slow walking" any resolution to the problems,” he said. “Resolution needs to be a priority!”
Frisco
Place 2
Tammy Meinershagen, the incumbent, received about 41% of the vote in the general election. Burt Thakur received 43% of the vote.
Meinershagen, who currently serves as the city’s deputy mayor pro tem, faced controversy after local blog The Frisco Chronicles shared audio recordings of her on YouTube where she made several disparaging remarks about current city council members and the Frisco community. The audio in the videos has been edited to only include Meinershagen’s voice and some background music.
The Dallas Morning News editorial board wrote that Meinershagen hinted that former Frisco city council place 4 candidate Sangita Datta recorded a private conversation without Meinershagen’s knowledge. Datta denied the accusation in an interview with WFAA-TV.
In the recording, Meinershagen said Frisco’s South Asian community needed to integrate more with the rest of the city. Frisco is 27% Asian according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Thakur was born in India according to his website. He gave an emotional speech at a Frisco city council meeting last month about his experience moving to the United States as a child. Thakur said his mother changed his first name to Albert because he was bullied for his name as a child.
“Normalizing casual intolerance has no place in our country,” he said.
Thakur asked the crowd at the city council meeting to extend each other grace.
“I love Frisco,” he said. “I love my friends. I love my neighbors, and you know what, I like all of you.”
Meinershagen said at the Frisco Chamber of Commerce’s recent candidate forum that the backlash she has faced over the recordings hasn’t deterred her from running.
“Despite being attacked, and my family being attacked, I’m still here,” she said. “I’m here to fight. Here to fight against the dirty tactics. Fight for Frisco.”
Place 4
Gopal Ponanagi, a former Frisco ISD school board trustee, faces Jared Elad in the place 4 runoff. Ponangi received about 25% of the vote and Elad earned about 38%.
Elad is married to Frisco ISD school board trustee Stephanie Elad, who was reelected for another term. He is the founder and wealth advisor at Diamond Capital Wealth. He lists fiscal responsibility and transparency as one of the issues he would prioritize if elected on his campaign website.
“With more than 16 years of experience as a financial advisor, I have a strong track record of managing budgets, ensuring financial accountability, and helping individuals and businesses reach their financial goals,” Elad said on his website.
Other priorities he lists on his website include community friendly development, public safety and responsible growth.
Ponangi, on his campaign website, told the nonpartisan voting initiative Collin County Votes that his policy priorities include public safety, jobs, low taxes and traffic.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
