Frisco voters will have the opportunity to elect a new mayor and two city council members in upcoming local elections.
Early voting is scheduled to start next week and end on April 28. Election Day is May 2.
Mayor
John Keating, Shona Sowell, Rod Vilhauer and Mark Hill are running for the mayor’s seat. Mayor Jeff Cheney is term limited and unable to run for another term.
Keating stepped down from city council Place 1 to run for mayor. Ann Anderson was elected to Keating’s old seat in a recent special election.
The former mayor pro tem was first elected to the Frisco city council Place 1 seat in 2017. Before that, Keating held the Place 4 seat from 2010 to 2016. He lists public safety, fixing road congestion and keeping tax rates low as priorities on his campaign website.
Shona Sowell is also running for mayor. Sowell stepped down from her seat on the Frisco City Council in 2022 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, according to her campaign website. During her six years on council, Sowell served as mayor pro tem and was chair of the legislative committee. She lists increasing staffing for the city’s fire department, addressing traffic congestion and property tax relief as priorities on her campaign website.
Rod Vilhauer, a former member of the Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission, is also on the ballot for mayor. Vilhauer was part of the master thoroughfare plan that increased the size of Frisco’s roads according to his campaign website.
He lists transparency about city spending, eliminating wasteful spending and completing the buildout of major thoroughfares to address traffic congestion as priorities on his campaign website.
Mark Hill, a Frisco ISD school board trustee, is also vying for the mayor role. Hill is an attorney and was elected to the school board in 2023 according to his Frisco ISD bio.
He lists managing buildout, fiscal responsibility and protecting the city's low tax rate as priorities on his campaign website.
City Council Place 5
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rummel faces two challengers, Vijay Karthik and Sreekanth Reddy, in her reelection bid.
Rummel was first elected to the city council in a 2022 special election according to her Frisco city council bio. She lists smart growth, keeping property taxes low and advocating for the city’s pets as her priorities for reelection on her campaign website.
The Frisco City Council approved $12.8 million in funding for an animal facility last fall. The facility will be operated through a public-private partnership similar to Toyota Stadium and The Star in Frisco. The city will pay for and own the building and Nicole Kohanski, a member of the Frisco Animal Advisory Board, will pay $32,000 a month in rent in cash or by providing animal services.
The facility is not an animal shelter — rather, it will offer animal services and temporarily hold animals to make it easier for Frisco residents to retrieve lost pets. Animals in need of long-term shelter would still go to the Collin County animal shelter in McKinney, which has been overflowing for years.
Abby Allison, a member of Frisco's Pet Project, told KERA last fall the Frisco animal facility can't address the needs of the community the way a full-service shelter would.
"There is a fire hydrant that is broken and it's just spewing out water. This facility is like sticking gum over the fire hydrant," Allison said. "The problem's still there, the water's still overflowing."
Rummel praised the public-private partnership on her campaign website and said she’s working on a plan for a more robust facility.
“I believe we can build something more innovative than a traditional shelter, one that focuses on combating the reasons for homeless pets, and a private partnership could enable this without an increase in taxes,” she said. “A local facility would be valuable for our residents and provide an enhanced city service beyond what we have today.”
Karthik, one of Rummel’s challengers, said on his campaign website he supports creating a full service animal shelter for the city, not a temporary holding facility.
“For years, residents and animal advocates have asked for more than temporary solutions,” he said. “They want a permanent facility that supports adoptions, lost pets, fostering, responsible intake, and community education.”
Karthik, who has a background in technology, also expressed support for increased transparency, attracting high-paying jobs and fiscal responsibility on his campaign website.
Reddy also lists fiscal responsibility as a priority on his campaign website. He said economic development and smart growth are also essential items.
“Frisco’s continued growth brings both opportunity and responsibility,” Reddy said. “Addressing today’s challenges requires thoughtful leadership, long-term planning, and policies that place residents first. These core issues and policy priorities reflect a commitment to responsible growth, fiscal discipline, public safety, and open, accountable government.
City Council Place 6
Brittany Colberg, Matt Chalmers, Jerry Spencer and Sai Krishnarajanagar are vying for this open city council seat. The incumbent, Brian Livingston, is term limited and can’t run again.
Colberg is the Chair of the Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission and has been a member since 2018 and works as a branch manager and escrow officer at Capital Title according to her campaign website. She lists sustainable development, planning for long-term growth and fiscal responsibility and transparency as priorities on her campaign website.
Krishnarajanagar previously ran for the place 6 seat in 2020. He also ran for the place 2 seat last year, losing to Burt Thakur. He lists lower taxes through smart growth as a top issue on his campaign website.
Spencer ran for the Frisco city council Place 5 seat in 2025, losing to Jared Elad. He lists his occupation as investor on his application for a place on the ballot.
Chalmers lists his occupation as chiropractor on his application for a place on the ballot.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
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