Byrd unseats Zimmerman for District 3, Price wins another term

The Fort Worth City Council will have two new members after a victory by political newcomer Brian Byrd for the District 3 seat and the winner of the District 2 race, which will head to a runoff between Carlos Flores and Steve Thornton.

Mayor Betsy Price breezed to an easy victory and her fourth term in office, and six other incumbents were headed to wins, according to unofficial returns.

With one precinct remaining, Byrd, a physician and former hospice executive, was defeating four-term councilman W.B. “Zim” Zimmerman with 54 percent to Zimmerman’s 46 percent.

“We’re real grateful,” Byrd said of his win. “We’ve had May 6 circled on our calendar for over a year. It’s been my entire focus.”

Byrd said of Zimmerman, “I’m very grateful for his service.”

The race was viewed as the most contentious of the council races and the one where the most money was raised and spent. Zimmerman started the campaign with a war chest of just under $120,500 and raised another $54,000, according to campaign finance reports. He spent $130,470, reports show. Byrd raised $113,842 and spent nearly $95,000, reports show.

In District 2, Carlos Flores and Steve Thornton will head to a June 10 runoff, garnering the top two spots in a four-way race to replace retiring City Councilman Sal Espino, who decided not to seek a seventh term. Flores had 44 percent of the vote to Thornton’s 36 percent.

In the District 2 race, Jennifer Trevino had 18 percent of the vote and Tony Perez 2 percent.

Flores said he was very pleased with the results, saying “we definitely showed a strong first.”

Thornton said he’s predicting a win in the runoff. “I’m proud of my team. We kept a clean and positive campaign,” he said.

Price, who drew her first challenger after two election cycles, handily defeated Chris Nettles, 29, a justice of the peace court clerk and a minister. Price had 70 percent, to Nettles’ 30 percent, with 109 of the 113 precincts reporting.

Price said she is excited about her re-election and being able to continue championing education, economic development, transportation and engagement efforts, among others, for the city.

“We’re doing well in Fort Worth,” Price said. “I’m really excited the voters have trusted me to do this again. I’m looking forward to working hard on their behalf.”

Nettles said he’s already considering running again in 2019. “We’re feeling pretty good,” he said.

Nettles campaigned on the issue of establishing a citizens review board in the wake of the December incident involving the arrest of three African-American women by a Fort Worth police officer. The video of the arrest went viral on social media.

Winners in Saturday’s race will be sworn in May 16. The winner of the runoff election will be sworn in June 20.

Other council seats

District 6 Councilman Jungus Jordan will start his seventh term, rising to the top in a four-way race that included newcomers Roderick Smith and Nicholas St. John, who at 21 was the youngest candidate running for any of the council seats. Jordan had 64 percent of the vote, followed by Smith with 13 percent and St. John with 12 percent. The fourth candidate, Paul Hicks, received 11 percent of the vote.

“I am blessed to have the confidence of the people of District 6,” Jordan said, but added he’s also ready to get back to work. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.

Also returning are District 4 incumbent Cary Moon, who had 77 percent of the vote percent, over challenger Max Striker, an attorney. Moon was first elected to the council in 2015.

District 7 incumbent Dennis Shingleton was winning with 76 percent of the vote for a fourth term, ahead of opponent Michael Matos, 25, who said he ran against Shingleton over the council’s approval of a low-income housing zoning case near his neighborhood.

District 8 incumbent Kelly Allen Gray was leading opponent Kevin “KL” Johnson 72 percent to 28 percent.

And in what was anticipated to be a tight race, District 9 incumbent Ann Zadeh was ahead of opponent John Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was another candidate who filed to run based solely on a zoning case. Zadeh had 67 percent of the vote to Fitzgerald’s 33 percent.

Zadeh said Saturday night she’s eager to continue working on the issues facing her district and getting more residents engaged.

District 5 incumbent Gyna Bivens faced perennial write-in challenger Bob Willoughby. She received 97 percent of the vote.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Byrd unseats Zimmerman for District 3, Price wins another term."