Early voting begins for council, Mansfield ISD school board

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Early voting begins today for Mansfield’s mayor, two city council seats and three Mansfield ISD school board positions.

Early voting will run through April 29 with the general and special election May 3. A special election is being held concurrently for the Place 5 seat.

The Place 5 position is being vacated by Julie Short, who is running for mayor against incumbent Michael Evans. Short, a Realtor, has held the seat since 2018.

Evans, a preacher, has been mayor since 2020.

Four candidates are in the running in the Place 5 special election: Lance Hood, an assistant principal; Melisa Perez, a business owner; Eric Rozak, who is in construction; and Todd Simmons, a financial advisor.

Place 2 incumbent Tamara Bounds, who is in physical therapy, is running for election against Lori Williams, president of the Mansfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Bounds has held the Place 2 spot since 2020.

On the Mansfield ISD school board, Places 3, 4 and 5 are on the ballot.

School board secretary Craig Tipping, a physical therapist, faces challenger Jason Thomas, an operations director, for Place 3.

Board president Keziah Valdes Farrar, a Realtor, has filed to run again for Place 4 and will face Ana-Alicia Horn, a strategic development director.

For Place 5, incumbent Bianca Benavides Anderson, who is in sales/marketing, and Jesse Cannon II, an educator, have filed to run. Dustin McDonald also filed for the position, but has withdrawn his name.

Tipping, Farrar and Anderson were all elected in 2022.

All positions are for three-year terms, except the Place 5 council race, which will be for the final two years of Short’s term.

To find early voting sites for Mansfield ISD trustees, click here for Tarrant County and click here for Johnson County.

For early voting sites for the Mansfield council elections, click here.

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