Eleven people have officially filed to run for office in Arlington’s May 2 municipal election.
Voters will pick the city’s mayor and four city council members, with several additional candidates announcing on social media their intention to run ahead of the opening for filings.
Incumbents Mayor Jim Ross, District 3 council member Nikkie Hunter and District 5 council member Rebecca Boxall filed for reelection Wednesday.
Andrew Piel and Barbara Odom-Wesley, who represent Districts 4 and 8, respectively, will not be able to run for reelection under the city’s term limits.
Hunter Crow, a Tarrant County Democratic Party precinct chair, will challenge Ross for the mayorship. Crow previously ran for Tarrant County College’s board and a seat on the Arlington school board.
Steve Cavender, board president of the River Legacy Foundation, also filed to run for the mayor’s office. Cavender is a Marine Corps Reserve veteran and was key in bringing the Medal of Honor Museum to the Arlington Entertainment District.
He said in a news release sent to KERA News media partner Arlington Report that he had been urged to run for a couple of years. He said he’s running this year because of the funding shortfall the city faced in its 2026 budget and the increase this year to property taxes.
This was only the second year since 2017 that Arlington has raised the tax rate. The city council approved a 3-cent tax increase this year to finish closing a $25 million gap in funding Arlington officials said was caused by changes at the Tarrant Appraisal District and an unprecedented number of successful property valuation protests.
Ross, a Marine veteran, was elected in 2021. He has been under fire from right-leaning figures and organizations for his LGBTQ+ community advocacy.
His proclamations of Pride Month and an old video of Ross confronting a street preacher at a Pride event in New Orleans in 2018 have been used to criticize him and label the mayor a Democrat.
Criticism has also come in response to back taxes Ross owed to the IRS and late-paid property taxes on his home in Arlington.
Hunter, the council member for District 3, is facing challenger Kelly R. Burke.
In his announcement posted to Instagram, Burke said he’s running because “it’s time for a change, we need real leadership with real results.”
He said in a phone interview Monday that street conditions are bad and crime is a problem in District 3.
Police said in an email Monday that the department does not track crime statistics by council district and was unable to provide any data on crime rates specific to District 3.
But Arlington has seen crime decrease over the last four years — a report for the National Incident-Based Reporting System, more commonly referred to as NIBRS, showed a 12% decrease in overall crime between 2024 and 2025.
NIBRS is a voluntary federal database that collects crime and enforcement statistics across the country.
The report, in which the city has participated for decades, showed the reduction in crime last year followed by a 5% decrease in overall crime from 2023 to 2024.
In the District 5 race, Boxall will face challenger Brittney Garcia-Dumas.
Garcia-Dumas, who founded BDG Digital Marketing, has served on Ross’ Latino and Women advisory boards and chaired the Latino Business Group for the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Races for Districts 4 and 8 have seen the most interest from council hopefuls, each with three candidates announcing their intention to run ahead of the first day of official candidate filings.
Piel’s seat will be sought by Tom Ware, Lisa Ventura and Rogelio “Rojo” Meixueiro.
Ware is currently vice chair of the city’s planning and zoning commission and has served as leader of the Arlington Rotary Club, Arlington Youth Endowment Fund and Arlington Optimist Club. He is the only candidate to file for election, but Ventura and Meixueiro have previously announced their intention to seek the office.
Ventura is a precinct chair and member of the community involvement committee for the Tarrant County GOP who works as a firearms instructor.
Meixueiro is a community organizer who regularly shows up at council meetings to speak during public comments. He is the chair of the Texas Democrats’ Indigenous Peoples Caucus.
For Odom-Wesley’s District 8 chair, the only at-large seat up for grabs, Melody Fowler, Corey Harris and Jason Shelton announced they would run before filing opened. Both Harris and Shelton filed their campaign paperwork Wednesday.
Fowler has been a trustee on the Arlington school board for eight years. She’s the director of student support services at Arlington Baptist University and serves on the Arlington Charities board and as vice chair of Ross’ education committee.
Harris is a Realtor who has been president of the Arlington Board of Realtors and presiding officer of the Arlington Masonic Lodge and Great Arlington Lion’s Club.
Shelton, a sociology professor and director of the Center for African American Studies at UT Arlington, currently serves on the boards of the Arlington Museum of Art and Levitt Pavilion.
Arlington school district election
Two school board seats will appear on the ballot — Places 6 and 7.
Both incumbents, who were elected in 2023, have filed for reelection.
Place 6 is currently held by Brooklyn Richardson. Richardson is the director of youth and children ministries at the Westminster Presbyterian Church and previously served in leadership roles with Parent Teacher Associations in the district.
Jan Tyler will challenge Richardson for the seat. Tyler spent 33 years as a teacher at Arlington ISD and also taught religious education at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church for 27 years.
Place 7 is held by Leanne Haynes. Haynes previously served on PTA boards across the district and was president of the districtwide council of PTAs.
The candidates who have publicly announced their candidacy will still need to file official paperwork to make their election bids official and more could join the races.
The deadline for candidates to file is Feb. 13. Early voting will run from April 20 to April 28.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as new candidates file.
James Hartley is the Arlington Government Accountability Reporter for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org. You can follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.
Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
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