Lone Star Left’s Picks For Texas City Elections

These are recommendations, not endorsements.

Municipal races in Texas are technically nonpartisan, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows that doesn’t mean they’re apolitical. Party infrastructure, donor networks, and ideological alignment still shape who runs, who gets support, and how they govern once they’re in office. The difference is that voters are expected to figure that out on their own, often with very little information.

So that’s what I set out to do.

Over the past few weeks, I put out calls, dug through local coverage, cross-checked endorsements, looked at donation patterns where available, and leaned on input from activists and organizers on the ground. I did not cover every race across the state, and there are plenty I looked at where I could not confidently rule out Republican alignment. In some areas, that’s because information is scarce. In others, it’s because Republican networks are deeply embedded at the local level and candidates simply aren’t transparent about it.

That doesn’t mean skip those races. You should absolutely still vote all the way down your ballot, and vote in every single non-partisan race.

What this list represents is something more specific. Candidates I’ve been able to verify are not part of the MAGA ecosystem. In a few cases, more centrist candidates may be included, often at the recommendation of activists, because the alternative was significantly worse. That’s the reality of local politics right now. But overall, this is the strongest group of community-focused candidates I could identify across these municipal races.

I also didn’t include many ISD races unless they were specifically sent to me. School board elections are increasingly ground zero for far-right organizing, but they’re also highly localized, and I wanted to make sure anything I included was vetted.

And yes, this matters.

City councils, mayors, and local boards make decisions that shape everyday life far more directly than most statewide officials. This includes housing policy, policing, public health, infrastructure, and local economic development. These are the arenas where Republican governance models of deregulation for business, austerity for residents, and culture war distractions get implemented.

If we want different outcomes, we have to start at this level.

Each election cycle is an opportunity to push these local governments in a different direction. That happens when voters show up informed and intentional.

This list is meant to help with that.

Arlington

Mayor: Jim Ross

District 4: Rojo Meixueiro

District 5: Brittney Garcia-Dumas

District 8: Jason Shelton

North Richland Hills

Place 4: John Schleeter

Place 6: Laura Jenkins

Bedford

Kennedale

Celina

Fairview

Princeton

Murphy

Parker

Sachse

Denton

Frisco

Lewisville

Place 1: Erum Ali

ISD: Dr. Staci Barker

Flower Mound

Round Rock

Mayor: Kelly Hall

Place 4: Frank Ortega

Cedar Park

Hutto

Place 1: Sarosh Jafri

Place 4: Corina Zepeda

Pearland

Hillcrest Village

Galveston

Mayor At-Large: William Boike

District 1: Sharon Lewis

District 3: Bob Brown

District 4: Alex Porretto

District 5: Michael Niebuhr

District 6: George R. Guajardo

New Braunfels

Mayor: Neal Linnartz

District 6: April Ryans

Local elections don’t get the attention they deserve. That’s by design.

It’s easier to reshape a state from the ground up when nobody’s watching city council meetings, when school boards fly under the radar, and when voters assume these races “aren’t political.” Meanwhile, the same ideology driving state and national policy shows up in zoning decisions, policing budgets, book bans, and who gets prioritized in economic development deals.

That’s how the pipeline works.

And it’s also where it can be interrupted.

You’re not going to fix everything in one election cycle. Some of these races are uphill fights. Some cities are still years away from real ideological shifts. But none of that changes the fact that every seat matters, and every time a non-MAGA candidate wins one of these positions, it changes the trajectory of that city, even if only a little at first.

That’s how this builds.

So use this list as a guide, not a limit. Check your ballot. Look into the races I didn’t cover. Talk to local organizers if you can. And most importantly, vote all the way down.

Because this is where it starts. Early voting starts on Monday.

April 20, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (City elections/SD04 Special Election)

April 20, 2026: First day of early voting (City elections/SD04 Special Election)

April 27, 2026: Last day to register to vote (Democratic primary runoff elections)

April 28, 2026: Last day of early voting (City elections/SD04 Special Election)

May 2, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (City elections/SD04 Special Election)

May 2, 2026: Election day! (City elections/SD04 Special Election)

May 15, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)

May 18, 2026: First day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)

May 22, 2026: Last day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)

May 26, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)

May 26, 2026: Election day! (Democratic primary runoff elections)

Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

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