Incumbents re-elected, propositions pass

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

With a majority of the precincts reporting, Mansfield appears to have elected a new city council member and re-elected two others, while the Mansfield ISD school board also has a new member and has re-elected another.

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

On the Mansfield city council, incumbent Todd Tonore, 61, a local business owner, has been elected to another three-year term at Place 6, after defeating Gary Cardinale, 70, a retired Mansfield city employee. Tonore received 65 percent of the vote (2,425 votes) to Cardinale’s 35 percent (1,312).

In a special election to fill the final year of the Place 3 seat, Brent Newsom, 51, who served on the council for nine years before resigning to run for mayor in 2020, has defeated Scot Bowman, 49, an IT manager.  Newsom received 55 percent of the votes (2,088) to Bowman’s 45 percent (1,728). Mike Leyman, who was elected to the seat in 2018 and re-elected in 2021, resigned in January.

For Place 7, incumbent Larry Broseh, 68, a retired business owner, was unopposed.

For the Mansfield ISD school board, Benita Reed, 54, an educator, has defeated Quintin V. Huckaby, 36, a Realtor, for the Place 6 seat. Reed received 77 percent of the vote (5,714 votes) to Huckaby’s 23 percent (1,724). Incumbent Warren Davis, who was elected to Place 6 in 2020, did not file for re-election.

At Place 7, incumbent school board president Courtney Lackey Wilson, an executive assistant, was unopposed.

Both city propositions also appear to have passed. The propositions will broaden the uses for the half-cent sales tax collected by the Mansfield Economic Development Corp. Neither proposition will create any new taxes, explained MEDC director Jason Moore, just allow the MEDC to use the funds for a wider variety of projects.

Mansfield voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 1997. A half-cent also goes to the Mansfield Park Facilities Development Corp.

Proposition A, which passed with 64 percent for and 36 percent against (2,536 to 1,414), will allow the MEDC to use the half-cent sales tax to attract professional and amateur sports and athletic facilities, tourism and entertainment facilities, convention facilities, public parks, and related stores, restaurants, parking and transportation facilities.

Currently, the half-cent sales tax can be used for manufacturing, industrial, research and development, warehouse, distribution and corporate headquarters.

Proposition B, which passed with 54 percent for and 46 percent against (2,102 to 1,817), allows the MEDC to use the half-cent sales tax for a multi-sport venue and related infrastructure, plus maintenance and operating costs.