Candidate holds 41-vote lead in Fort Worth school board race, conservative PAC wins in Mansfield
Community liaison Wallace Bridges held a 41-vote lead in the runoff race for the Fort Worth school board District 4 seat, according to unofficial voting results Saturday night.
Bridges held 51.68% of the vote total with all voting centers reporting, while child psychiatrist Brian J. Dixon had 48.32%, according to the Tarrant County Election’s website. Bridges received 629 votes, and Dixon received 588.
Voting results are unofficial, and not all votes have been counted as absentee ballots received on Monday will be counted if they were postmarked by Saturday, according to the Tarrant County Elections Office. Ballots mailed from U.S. citizens residing outside the country may be counted if clearly postmarked on or before Saturday and received by the elections administrator no later than the fifth day after Election Day.
The District 4 board seat, which was left vacant by the death of trustee Daphne Brookins in November, represents parts of southeast Fort Worth and includes O. D. Wyatt High School.
Dixon ran on a campaign to improve reading rates, support teachers and choose the right superintendent.
“We stand at an impasse,” he said. “Between the effects of COVID, racial reconciliation, and health/wealth disparity, Fort Worth has a unique opportunity to invest in their children and educational workforce to build future leaders.”
Bridges said his top policy priorities are to improve reading and math scores, build strong school communities and ensure that schools receive the support they deserve.
In the weeks leading up to the election, Bridges called Dixon’s residency into question and filed a complaint with the Fort Worth school district regarding the suspension of Dixon’s voter registration by the Tarrant County Elections Commission. Bridges claims Dixon does not reside in District 4. Dixon, who owns property in the district, has denied the claims.
Bridges said Dixon’s residency issues are a testament to outside individuals trying to control District 4, something Bridges and his campaign say they’re working to call out and work against.
The vacant board seat may be crucial in choosing the district’s new superintendent as Kent Scribner is set to retire by the end of August and the search to find his replacement is underway.
Both seat terms expire in 2025.
City of Arlington city council
Long Pham, a retired Army National Guard officer, beat oncologist Albert Parra for the District 6 seat on the Arlington City Council, according to the Tarrant County Election’s website.
Pham held 57.4% of the vote total with all voting centers reporting Saturday night, while Parra had 42.6%.
Mansfield school board
Craig Tipping beat Benita Reed for the Mansfield school board Place 3 seat, according to the Tarrant County Election’s unofficial results.
Tipping held 52.98% of the vote total with all voting centers reporting Saturday night, while Reed had 47.02%. More than 400 votes separate the candidates.
Tipping is backed by Patriot Mobile, a Grapevine cellphone company that calls itself “America’s only Christian conservative wireless service provider.” The company poured $500,000 into a PAC to support candidates in the Carroll, Grapevine-Colleyville, Keller and Mansfield school districts, according to Star-Telegram archives.
Tipping’s campaigned on teaching kids “how to critically think for themselves, and not what to think,” as well as school safety, according to their website.
This story was originally published June 18, 2022 at 7:38 PM.
