Since Jan. 17, several local residents have filed their candidate applications to appear on the May 4 general election ballot vying for three at-large council seats in Denton.
Two candidates are seeking reelection: Mayor Gerard Hudspeth and council member Brandon Chase McGee.
The deadline to file with the city secretary as a local candidate is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16.
Here’s a look at the candidates who have filed so far to appear on the ballot.
Mayor/Place 7 council seat
Gerard Hudspeth, the first Black mayor in Denton, is seeking his third and final term in office.
Hudspeth lists his occupation as “sales” on his ballot application but is also a veteran council member and former mayor pro tem. He lists several issues he supports for his reelection on his campaign website: keeping families safe, responsible growth, protecting quality of life and supporting local businesses.
Hudspeth’s campaign finance report from January didn’t show individual contributions.
“Safe neighborhoods, clean streets, and excellent parks are a recipe for Denton’s success and improving our quality of life. Voters elected and re-elected me on this platform, and I will stay focused on these core responsibilities while keeping taxes low,” Hudspeth said in a Feb. 5 email to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
“In the last two years, we’ve completed the police substation, completely reconstructed several streets, opened the Denton Tennis and Pickleball Center, and supported our vibrant arts community.
“There is more work to get done, and I’m excited about our future.”
Hudspeth has one challenger so far: Lucas Wedgeworth, a high school teacher who’s been living in Denton for nearly 20 years and working as an educator since 2018. He teaches art, geography, history and special education.
Wedgeworth’s candidacy was initially a civics lesson for his seniors in Sanger on how easy it was for people to file to run for public office. His seniors suggested that he actually run for office because “you’re always talking about these good ideas for government,” Wedgeworth recalled in a Monday afternoon interview with the Record-Chronicle.
Wedgeworth posted about it on social media and said his post took off. Soon people were contacting him — including people from city hall, he said — wondering if he was serious about it. He was, and he started doing his homework on city issues.
Some of those issues that Wedgeworth supports include taking practical steps to resolve city issues and diversifying housing development, which is currently mostly apartments, according to the city’s interactive development map.
For example, Wedgeworth said offering more starter homes for working class families would allow them to build equity and “buy into Denton.” It’s a move that Wedgeworth said could help lower housing costs and cause more competition between landlords to lower monthly rent prices.
“I think that a change in vision is needed, and a particle approach from a teacher is what the city needs,” Wedgeworth said. “There are a lot of areas that Denton [residents] complain about like housing costs and rising traffic. … Teachers make excellent students, and I started doing my homework on practical steps that we can take now.”
Place 6 council seat
Only two people have announced their candidacy for council member Chris Watts’ at-large seat.
Lilyan Prado Carrillo is a youth motivational speaker and educator who immigrated from Guatemala when she was 4 years old. Raised by a single father who worked two jobs to support her, Prado Carrillo said she uses her experiences to speak on a variety of topics from blended families to servant leadership and overcoming adversity.
An English as a second language/bilingual specialist, Prado Carrillo attended Calhoun Middle School, graduated from Denton High School in the late 1990s and went to North Central Texas College followed by Texas Woman’s University. She has spent the past several years educating students and speaking to large groups of underserved kids about seeking higher education.
She has also served as president of the Denton chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Prado Carrillo couldn’t be reached for comment by Monday evening.
Real estate and business law attorney Jill Jester is no stranger to politics. Her father — Tom Jester — was a council member and the mayor of Denton in the 1970s.
The elder Jester was also an attorney at the Denton-based law firm of Minor & Jester, P.C. where Jill Jester now works. As she told Denton County magazine in September 2020, “I like to practice law. I like the idea of helping people, using our words instead of fists to solve problems.”
Like her father, Jester served on the board of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and as the chair for Health Services of North Texas. She currently serves on the board of KERA, the nonprofit owners of the Record-Chronicle. She is also on the Board of Regents for Texas Woman’s University.
Jester said she just decided late last week to seek office and is interested in issues such as being responsible with residents’ tax money, making sure city services are provided and council members have clear priorities based on its creation documents. Not every issue, she said, needs to be given the same amount of weight and time.
She also plans to stay cognizant of the fact that there are core services, such as street repair and emergency services, that must receive the needed attention. She describes herself as someone who enjoys hearing from different viewpoints and avoids combative politics.
“I love my hometown and our community,” Jester said. “I enjoy feeling as if I’m making a positive difference and you can tell that by my volunteering.”
Place 5 council seat
Council member Brandon Chase McGee wants another term in office.
For the past couple of years, McGee has championed issues such as the abortion rights resolution, decriminalization of marijuana and the fair-chance hiring initiative to level the employment playing field for job seekers with criminal records.
McGee, a truck driver and single parent, first sought election two years ago as part of a progressive platform fueled by a grassroots movement.
Maria Crane
On his campaign website, McGee pointed out that he prides himself on being a voice for the hardworking people of Denton.
This reelection season, McGee has also accepted campaign donations from out-of-town developers and real estate companies, according to his recent filings.
For example, real estate investment firm Old Prosper Partners from Prosper donated $5,000. HFRD TX LLC, an LLC managed by real estate firm Orion RE Capital LLC, contributed $1,000. Midlothian-based Alluvium Development had both CEO Terrance Jobe and Vice President Jonathon Jobe each donate $2,500 to McGee’s campaign.
McGee couldn’t be reached for comment by Monday evening.
McGee’s current challenger is first-time candidate Erica Garland.
According to her application for candidacy, Garland works as an aviation and pilot recruiter for Southwest Airlines. She’s been living in Denton for 14 years and claims on her campaign website that she is running for office “because I care about the future of Denton and the people who live here.”
Some of the issues Garland said she represents include fixing the streets, supporting communities and first responders and local businesses. She also plans to address the “rising concerns surrounding homelessness” and “growing in a way that keeps, Denton, Denton,” according to her campaign website.
Garland decided to run for council because she said, like others, she has “grown increasingly concerned over the lack of focus on local Denton needs and issues.”
She said she believes that she is an ideal candidate for council because, as a mother of four children, she understands the struggle a single mom faces and that many Denton residents know firsthand “that making Denton safe for all families and businesses is paramount.
“My focus will be on local issues of concern to Denton citizens, not using the council’s time and resources to promote outside causes and issues.”