Alan Blaylock wins Fort Worth City Council District 4 special election to replace Cary Moon
Alan Blaylock defeated three other candidates to win the District 4 seat on the Fort Worth City Council.
Blaylock won 52.05% of the vote compared to 30.49% for Tara Wilson, 12.13% for Teresa Ramirez, and 5.33% for James McBride, according to unofficial results with all vote centers reporting.
Blaylock won in the precincts north of Loop 820, whereas Wilson is had a strong showing in the southern and eastern parts of the district bewtween the Carter-Riverside and Woodhaven neighborhoods.
“Tonight, voters voiced their desire for low taxes, safe neighborhoods and better streets. I’m honored they chose me to be their voice at city hall advocating for our community. The campaign is over and now it’s time to get to work,” Blaylock said in an emailed statement.
Wilson did not respond to a request for comment.
McBride conceded after his early showing, but said his loss is not the end of his effort to fight for what he called meaningful police reform. He’s advocated for novel solutions to police reform including, “bringing more psychology and sociology as part of the officer’s curriculum.”
Blaylock replaces Cary Moon, who resigned to run for a seat in the Texas legislature.
Blaylock will fill Moon’s unexpired term and represent a diverse district that stretches as far north and Golden Triangle Boulevard and as far east as East Loop 820.
Blaylock, vice president of the Heritage Home Owners association, is a first time political candidate who pointed to his years of community volunteering as motivating his decision to run for office. He’s focused his campaign on lowering property taxes, fixing roads, and improving police and fire response times.
Wilson, a ER nurse, came in second against Moon in the May 2021 district 4 race. Her priorities in this race have been to invest more in local communities, improve city infrastructure, and help small businesses recovering from the pandemic.
Ramirez is a neighborhood watch volunteer with the Fort Worth Police department, according to her website. She’s advocated for funding police, family involvement in education, reduced government spending, and preventing community displacement from rezoning.
The area making up the current District 4 will be split among three new districts when the entire city council is up for re-election in May 2023.
Blaylock will reside in the new District 10, which consists of the far northern reaches of the city north of Heritage Trace Parkway.
McBride, who lives in the Carter-Riverside neighborhood, will be in the new District 11 in east Fort Worth, which contains the so-called “horseshoe” feature that loops in the mostly Hispanic neighborhoods of Rosemont and Worth Heights.
Ramirez lives in the Summerfields neighborhood, which will be in the new District 4.
Wilson lives in the Woodhaven neighborhood, which under the new council map would be split between the new districts 5 and 11, however, in a meeting with the Star-Telegram editorial board, she said she will live in the new District 4 in time for the 2023 election.
This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 7:03 PM.