Housing, gay rights, taxes and the personal finances of candidates are among some of the big issues that have emerged in the race for Arlington mayor.
Early voting starts April 20 and Election Day on May 2.
Incumbent Jim Ross, 65, took office in 2021 and has overseen planning for the World Cup, relocation of several national corporate headquarters to the city and led the council through three tax rate decreases and two increases.
Steve Cavender, the 77-year-old president of the River Legacy Foundation, is seeking to unseat Ross. Cavender has worked for 35 years in real estate development and has never run for or held public office before.
Shaun Mallory, the owner of Daesy’s Tropic Sno on Little Road, is running for mayor because he says voters need a more direct say in how the city is run. Mallory has never run for office before.
Hunter Crow, the fourth mayoral hopeful, is the Tarrant County Democratic Party Precinct 2425 Chair. He has made eight unsuccessful bids for office, including for Arlington school board, Texas Railroad Commission and Texas State Board of Education.
Ross and Cavender have taken center stage in much of the discussion about the mayoral election.
Cavender has outspent Ross with $78,863 spent as of April 2, according to a campaign finance report filed that day. Ross, as of April 2, spent $7,339.
More than $58,000 of Cavender’s expenses have been paid to Mayes Media Group, the firm of his campaign manager Brian Mayes.
Ross’ largest expenditure was for yard signs, paying $2,459.85 to Digital Corporate Companies in Arlington.
Much of the campaign has played out on social media.
Cavender’s campaign posts on social media frequently have focused on Ross. They’ve criticized his leadership and personal life. Ross’ campaign social media focuses on endorsements and accomplishments while in office – and his goals for the city’s future.
Cavender’s campaign also has faced criticism online for blocking some people who oppose him on his campaign social media page.
He confirmed that his campaign has blocked some people who he claimed lied about his campaign.
“I'm not going to let anybody come on my site and place lies about the campaign that aren't true and if they continue to do it, we will block them,” he said.
He said he has someone who manages his social media account and does not handle it himself.
If elected, he said he would listen to those people.
“Everybody has a right to voice their own opinion to public officials and being a public officer,” he said. “That's one of the things you have to accept, and I would.”
Budget, taxes and spending
Cavender’s campaign accuses Ross of overspending, being too supportive of apartments and raising taxes.
Last year, Arlington raised property taxes for the second time since 2017 as the last step to close a projected $25 million budget shortfall.
The city raised taxes by 1 cent per $100 of property value for 2025 following years of tax rate cuts.
For 2026, Arlington's budget woes came after an unprecedented number of successful property value protests and the decision by the Tarrant Appraisal District to delay home value assessments until 2027.
The city slashed funding for staff positions, programs and some partnerships as it tried to close the gap.
For 2026, the city’s increase of 3 cents per $100 of property value provided enough funds to close the last of the gap, with $7.4 million coming from two cents of that increase, City Manager Trey Yelverton said at the time.
That increase returned the city to the tax rate in 2019 and 2020.
City council passed the tax rate increase by a vote of 7-2, with District 4 and District 7 Council members Andrew Piel and Bowie Hogg voting against it.
Cavender blames Ross for the tax rate increase and said Ross should have made more cuts. But Cavender said he did not know what those cuts would be.
“I don't know the items, areas that I would have asked for [more cuts], but I would've just said bring a balanced budget, show us what items you have cut to get us to a balanced budget without taxes and let the council look at it and decide what areas and what items they want to cut to go ahead and meet that requirement,” he told KERA News.
The tax rate increase was described by Yelverton as a last resort to resolve the budget. More cuts were presented to the council, but its members rejected them.
Ross said he is only one of nine votes on the council and that he wouldn’t do anything differently today.
“We made tremendous cuts, probably about $15 million worth of cuts and adjustments to the deficit that we had as a result of what TAD and others had done, before we looked at all on increasing property tax,” Ross said.
More cuts, he said, would have negatively impacted city services like trash, parks and animal services. Decreases to pay would also make the city less competitive in the job market, Ross said, and would impact the quality of services the city offers.
Nobody wanted to raise taxes, he said. He pointed to the tax rate decreases from 2022, 2023 and 2024, all of which happened during his tenure as mayor.
“The increase of property tax was higher than we've had to do in a number of years,” Ross said. “But remember three years ago, we had the biggest tax cut in Arlington in over 30 years.”
He said the city made efforts to prevent raising the property tax rate but that sometimes it happens “depending on what the climate is like.”
Candidates' tax backgrounds
Some Facebook attacks related to the budget from Cavender’s campaign targeting Ross mention troubles with taxes in the past.
One Cavender campaign Facebook post says a Florida-based research firm polled voters about their likelihood to vote for Ross. That poll said his tax history is one reason some people won’t vote for him.
The Tallahassee, Florida-based firm, Cherry Communication, advertises itself as a call center that conducts surveys and polling.
“The poll findings come amid growing controversy over recent media reports that Mayor Ross voted to raise taxes while failing to timely pay his own federal income taxes and local property taxes — an issue survey respondents cited as a major driver of dissatisfaction with his leadership,” the post reads.
Cavender’s campaign also has sent mailers to residents that cite excerpts of a KERA news story.
“Mayor Ross voted to raise your property taxes, even as media reports show he’s been delinquent on his own income and property tax payments,” the mailer says. “While you’re expected to pay more, he hasn’t paid what he already owes – why should he be trusted with your tax dollars?”
Ross and the IRS recently agreed on a payment plan for $174,000 in back taxes. The plan came after the IRS began garnishing wages from Ross’ $250 a month stipend he receives as mayor.
He said he paid off the entire bill in three months and no longer owes anything to the IRS.
He’s also had property taxes that were paid late. Ross said he used to have someone employed who handled his property taxes. When he downsized his businesses to focus on his role as mayor, that was overlooked, he added.
He told KERA News in July 2025, the same time his back taxes became public, that he’d already caught up on his late property tax bill.
In July 2025, multiple council members said Ross’ personal finances haven’t impacted his ability to lead or responsibly manage the city’s funds. They noted that they would have spoken up, and that Ross is only one of nine votes on the council.
Public records also showed that the IRS placed a lien on a home Cavender owned in 1996.
He said the lien came after the Resolution Trust Corporation investigated a savings and loan institution in Waco. Cavender had a loan from that firm in Waco for a development project. The RTC investigated his personal finances, found he owed $27,000, and placed a lien on his house.
He said he paid the money the same day, and the lien was removed.
City development key to expansion
Arlington has only 99 square miles to develop and no room to expand the city’s territory.
Ross said 98% of that land has already been developed. When the last 2% is done, the city will reach what is called buildout.
With such little space left, Ross said redeveloping old properties is a big part of his strategy, saying it benefits the city more over the long-term.
“A lot of what we have to look at is how to redevelop, how to reimagine, re-envision different parts of our community,” Ross said. “How do we take a part of our community that may be 30, 40, 50, 60 years old and how do we change that dynamic to make it appealing to younger people who are moving into town?”
Part of that strategy is implementing form-based code in downtown.
While traditional zoning focuses on limiting development based on specific uses, form-based code prioritizes the physical form of the structure with a broad range of possible uses.
The code cuts down on the time it takes to get approval for new construction or redevelopment, making it cheaper. The code oftentimes allows developers to bypass planning and zoning and skip approval from the city council since so many details are already cemented in the code and proposals can get administrative approval instead.
Ross said that makes it easier, less expensive and more appealing for companies looking to redevelop parts of the city. It also promotes more aesthetic, walkable areas.
Cavender said form-based code “does sound interesting if it's handled right by the city.”
He’s in favor of form-based code because it will make it easier for developers to work in Arlington but thinks the new code will take time to get used to.
Cavender did not include form-based code in his overall plan for addressing buildout.
One part of his plan is to offer money to people in aging neighborhoods to beautify those parts of the city.
“We need to look at finding a way to encourage those homeowners to either increase the value of their property by repairing and putting new faces on them, let's say, versus tearing them down and then redeveloping that,” Cavender said. “There's a lot of areas in town that I think are ripe for redevelopment.”
Ties to real estate
Cavender’s career has been largely in real estate development, working with big names in the city including Moritz.
The Moritz family, most recognizable for its car dealerships, also has business in real estate and residential development in the city.
He said he would recuse himself from any vote in which a developer to whom he has ties is seeking council permission for permits or approvals for projects.
He attacked Ross, saying he supports too many apartments close to neighborhoods. Ross said he has supported the construction of apartments “strategically” in different parts of the city.
Cavender’s connection to former mayor Jeff Williams, a developer himself, has drawn scrutiny from some online, including former council member Charlie Parker.
Parker claimed in posts on Facebook that Cavender was recruited by Williams and others in the Arlington establishment – and that those ties could hold heavy sway over Cavender.
Cavender told KERA News that Williams is a part of his campaign, but said he volunteered to run and wasn’t asked by anybody.
“I am nobody's puppet,” Cavender said. “Jeff Williams and I have been friends for the last 15, 20 years. And there are a lot of people on my campaign team, like Jeff Williams, that we have been close friends for a long time.”
Apartments, housing and affordability
Ross and Cavender diverge on the issue of apartments in Arlington.
Cavender said apartments create problems – especially for the school district – and that they are often poorly built.
“Apartment dwellers a lot of times are transient,” Cavender said. “They're in and out. It creates a huge issue with our school system.”
He said Arlington is already “overbuilt” on apartments, but that he wouldn’t oppose new ones. They shouldn’t be built near single-family homes and should be built better, Cavender said.
“I think apartments are part of a city's housing stock and I support it,” Cavender said. “But again, the areas that they're being built in now, and recently a couple of cases that were right next to existing residential subdivisions are wrong.”
Ross agreed that apartments shouldn’t be built too closely to single-family neighborhoods, but disagreed with the sentiment that there are too many in the city.
“Considering the population of Arlington, 413,000, it's still a nominal amount,” Ross said. “We still have housing concerns in Arlington.”
Ross said the cost of buying a home is still high and apartments play an important role in offering housing to lower income families and young professionals alike.
He supports more construction of housing like town homes and duplexes for sale instead of rent, saying those are less expensive options for folks who are ready to buy a home and put down roots.
Ross also wants to see more luxury homes constructed in the city. He pointed to the companies that have moved their headquarters to Arlington during his time as mayor, including E-Space and Mozee Inc., saying executives will be looking for more expensive houses.
“We’ve got to have those in here, but we also have to have lower income places that are going to be able to take care of all of the people that can't afford to buy,” he said.
Ross’ plan calls for strategically placed apartments for rent and town homes and duplexes for purchase. But Cavender said Arlington doesn’t have much room for affordable housing.
“I don't see mass affordable housing projects being developed in Arlington, unless you're far south Arlington down around 287, where we do have open vacant land available to do that,” Cavender told KERA. “We need more for sale, people that are going to live here and not just move in and move out.”
Both candidates agreed that Arlington and other cities across Texas need to work together to change or end SB-840.
The controversial law passed in 2025 intends to address the high cost of housing in Texas cities by making it easier for developers to construct apartments.
Texas needs around 320,000 more houses than it has now to meet current demand, according to housing policy and advocacy group Up for Growth.
Lawmakers told KERA in July 2025 that SB-840 is supposed to aid Texas in righting the ship. The law allows developers to bypass zoning changes to build apartments in parts of the city zoned commercial.
It applies only to cities of more than 150,000 residents in counties with more than 300,000 residents, including Arlington.
Ross said he and the mayors of several other cities are already working together to ask the legislature to repeal of significantly amend the law. He wants to see more control returned to cities so they can make decisions about things like location and construction standards based on what’s best for their communities.
Cavender said he would try to create his own group of cities to do the same.
Transit concerns
Transit also becomes an issue as the city’s population continues to grow. The city currently offers subsidized rideshare through Arlington On-Demand, formerly known as Via. But it has no bus routes or trains.
Cavender said he doesn’t want to see public transit expand beyond that in Arlington.
“I don't think mass transit works period,” he said.
Cavender pointed to DART, which is currently facing elections to withdraw in three cities: Addison, Highland Park and University Park. Irving, Plano and Farmer’s Branch all had withdrawal elections scheduled but canceled them after reaching a deal with DART.
Ross said Arlington should look at ways of innovating and expanding public transportation, calling the rideshare program “robust” but “not ideal by any stretch of the meaning.”
“It's better than fixed route bussing because Arlington, the studies have shown ... that Arlington lacks the consistent density to warrant fixed route bussing,” Ross told KERA.
Regional transportation is especially concerning to him.
North Texas’ population growth is on track to surpass Chicago, the nation’s third- largest metropolitan area in the country, within the next 10 years, the Dallas Morning News reported in September 2025.
“When that happens, we're still not going to have any regionalization of transportation,” Ross said. “It's horrifically bad.”
He said he wants to see a regional, technology-based transit authority established. Ideally, that authority would streamline regional transportation through use of traditional options, like rail and bus, and innovations like rideshare, autonomous vehicles, flying taxis and drone deliveries.
The three agencies in the region – DART, Trinity Metro and the Denton County Transportation Authority – are “trying to finagle who's doing what and how they're doing,” Ross said.
He argues that a regional, technology-based transit authority would be more efficient.
Pride and LGBTQ protections
As the city looks at how to keep up with growth, the diversity of its population has also become a campaign issue.
Arlington’s city council in February voted to remove protections for LGBTQ people from its anti-discrimination ordinance and replace those protections with a resolution condemning discrimination and hate.
The city said that language in the anti-discrimination ordinance could cost the Arlington millions in federal grant funding. Opponents of removing the protections said the city wouldn’t lose any funding and that it should stand up to the federal government.
A version of the ordinance that included language immediately suspending protections if the federal government threatened to revoke grants was not approved by the council.
Ross voted against removing those protections and in favor of the language that would suspend protections if necessary.
He said that he won’t push anybody on council to revisit the issue and consider returning that language, but that he would support such an effort if attitudes on the council change.
The vote also led the HELP Center, an LGBTQ health clinic, to indefinitely suspend its celebration of Arlington Pride each June.
Ross has taken fire from conservatives in the community for his support of the LGBTQ community, including a proclamation for Pride month that he has in the past read at Pride events.
Despite the suspension of Pride in Arlington, Ross said he still supports the LGBTQ community and will continue proclaiming June as Pride month if he is asked, noting that he doesn’t make proclamations without a request.
Cavender said he would likely not.
“I would probably have to look at that because the proclamation of any select organization is basically, in my opinion, discrimination against others,” he told KERA.
He said he has gay and lesbian relatives and respects them and that while he “may not agree with the way they lead their life,” LGBTQ people have legal rights that need to be respected. He said he would not have a problem with Pride events continuing in the city.
As for the LGBTQ protections removed from the anti-discrimination ordinance, Cavender said federal law didn’t allow them and they needed to be removed.
Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org.
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