The two races for seats on the Irving City Council will go to runoff elections in June after election day voting on Saturday left no candidate with a majority of the vote.
While the mayorship was also up for election, incumbent Rick Stopfer ran unopposed and was declared re-elected by default.
In Irving City Council District 5, Mark Cronenwett, who received nearly 41% of Saturday’s vote, will face off against Heather Stroup, who earned 28% in the five-way race for the council seat.
The other three candidates, Anthony Stanford (3%), Jesse Koehler (5%), and Matt Varble (25%), did not advance to the runoff.
In an email to The Dallas Express, Koehler called for greater civic participation in local elections.
“Irving voter turnouts have been dismal. Unfortunately, less than 10 percent of the registered voters in Place 5 voted for their next city councilman,” he said. “As a result, only 1,798 voters cast their ballots to choose their preferred candidate out of the five contestants on the ballot.”
“Why is local election participation so important to many of us everyday people?” he continued. “Plainly, ‘We the People’ should determine who represents us — not special-interest or religious groups, nor out-of-city/state PACs.”
“All too often, we see the lack of voter participation leaving plenty of opportunity for the elitists, ‘good ole boy’ networks, corporate or outside influencers to fill the void, who ultimately choose the People’s leader using big money, dis/misinformation, and flashy signs,” he added.
Koehler claimed that his run this year might have been negatively affected by allegedly anti-Muslim comments made against his wife and allegations that he supported Sharia law during his 2019 City Council campaign.
“Until the People start getting involved and participating in local politics, the elitists (who have the influence, money, and power) will continue to seemingly exclude everyday people … from having a fair chance to represent their communities,” Koehler said.
The race for City Council District 3 will also be decided in a runoff between incumbent Mark Zeske, who received 33% of the vote, and challenger Abdul Khabeer, who nearly won outright by earning 48%. A third candidate, Paul Bertanzetti, failed to make the runoff with 19%.
Voter participation across Dallas County was down this election cycle, with only 8.84% of eligible voters casting ballots.
In Irving, some precincts saw higher levels of participation, such as the area around Fox Glen and University Hills, with close to 24% of eligible voters participating. However, many other areas, such as the entertainment district, which includes the Toyota Music Factory, saw less than 6% turnout. More precincts saw even smaller percentages of eligible voters engage in the civic process.
Outside of Irving City Hall on election day, one voter, Bob Rassel, explained to The Dallas Express, “Well if you live in a community, you’ve got to be a part of it. You should vote, exercise your opinion, and exercise your vote.”
Rassel explained that some of the issues motivating him to vote were the various school bond proposals on the ballot.
“Well, the whole thing about the school bonds … one of my sons said, ‘Why do they want to tear down that school?’ And because we are from South America in Brazil, well we know what schools are like down there and the tax structures there,” he explained, suggesting that he did not support the proposals.
However, the various bond proposals passed by a wide margin, and Irving ISD tweeted early Sunday morning, “The Irving community has spoken! Unofficial results show Propositions A, B, and C have PASSED! … Thank you #MyIrvingISD and our amazing city for showing your support for our kids and teachers.”
The runoff elections for the two City Council seats will occur on June 10.
