E L E C T I O N R E S U L T S Here are results for contested races in the May 1 general election. John Classe ran unopposed for the Frisco ISD Place 6 seat. Election season isn’t over yet, as the race for Place 3 on the Frisco City Council will advance to a runo " on June 5.
that address local elections. One would require candidates to declare their party af ! iliation in munici- pal elections, and the other pro- posed moving municipal elections to November. However, as of press time, neither made the deadline to enter either chamber’s floor for a vote. “Partisan issues should be optional and not required of any- body—we don’t need to further that trend,” said Tony Felker, who is the Frisco Chamber of Commerce President and CEO as well as a for- mer Frisco City Council member. “[Separate elections] gives the best opportunity for local people to be educated and engage with local issues and local candidates, and we feel that’s the best way to keep that going, moving forward.” Low turnout factors Another issue with moving local elections to November is los- ing focus on local priorities, Esh- baugh-Soha said. Longer ballots mean people have to dedicate more time to learning who the candidates are and where they stand on issues. It is possible that national politics would drown out the local issues, and people would still choose not to vote on important measures on the ballot, he said. “If everybody’s ! ixated on the president and there are important local issues, maybe we’re not really having a conversation about that,” he said. “That could do a disservice to local politics.” Instead, people may be more inclined to vote when there are more candidates on the ballot or if some of the items are controversial, Schief- fer said. This was the case in May for the city of McKinney, where there were multiple candidates running for mayor and City Council positions
“We want to encourage every- body to come out and vote as much as possible, but we also want them to be educated about those candi- dates, educated about the issues, and not just throwing out your votes for local people … when they might not truly understand what those candidates stand for and where they stand on the issues,” he said. “So it’s a tough battle.” Lee pointed out that those who are unwilling to vote are letting oth- ers make decisions for them. “That’s one of the biggest conse- quences of low turnout, is an abdi- cation of duty,” Lee said. Even though runoff elections typically see fewer voters than the general elections, Cheney empha- sized how important it is for peo- ple to vote. The next opportunity is June 5, when voters will decide who replaces three-term Frisco City Council member Will Sowell. “A runoff is happening, and it is to replace the termed-out nine-year council member,” Cheney said. “We are losing a great deal of experience from our City Council. So, this elec- tion will be very important.” RUNOFF ELECTION INFORMATION Election day: June 5 Polls open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Collin County voters can vote at any open polling location within the county. Denton County residents must vote at their assigned precinct on election day. Locations can be found at www.votedenton.com/upcoming- election-information. Election results can be found at communityimpact.com.
Audit | Consulting | Forensic, Litigation & Valuation Outsourced Accounting Solutions | Risk Advisory Tax | Transaction Advisory | Wealth Management Leadership Starts Here One way local organizations seek to bridge that information gap is by providing candidate forums. This is something both the League of Women Voters of Collin County and the Frisco Chamber of Commerce participate in ahead of elections. They provide opportunities for resi- dents to learn more about the candi- dates and the issues, they said. It can be a tough balancing act between getting people motivated to not only learn about the issues but also to vote, Felker said. as well as four school propositions on the ballot, she said. As a result, the city reached about 19% for voter turnout—something of ! icials con- sider to be good turnout for a local election—but this paled in compari- son to participation in the November election. “Competition often brings out more voters because you’ve got more people trying to, I guess, motivate the voters to go to the elections,” Schieffer said. “If you have compe- tition, it feels like there’s something really at stake.” Both Schieffer and Eshbaugh-Soha said more people would likely vote in local elections if they had more information available. “When we’re talking about presi- dential elections, it’s impossible not to know some signi ! icant amount of information about candidates for that of ! ice, but it’s dif ! icult to know your City Council election and who’s running,” Eshbaugh-Soha said. “The individuals who are likely to vote are those who are knowledgeable about the City Council, they’re knowledge- able about election day, and they will seek out that information, even if it’s not provided to them in a more passive way as it may be through news media.” Engaging voters
Runo ! R
Incumbent
Winner
FRISCO CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, PLACE 1
75.8.% John Keating 24.2% JP Schade
FRISCO CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, PLACE 3
11% Sai Krishna
R R
27.3% Angelia Pelham 36.9% Jennifer White 24.9% Karen Cunningham
FRISCO ISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES, PLACE 7
42% Evelyn Brooks
58% René Archambault
government, but when you spread it out [from November to May], you really depress turnout,” Esh- baugh-Soha said. Moving local elections to Novem- ber could also make them more par- tisan, and that’s something to be avoided, said Christopher Lee, the director of government affairs for the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. “It’s hard to be partisan when you’re trying to ! igure out where that sidewalk goes. That’s not a par- tisan issue,” Lee said. “It should be what’s best for the citizens of Frisco, period.” He said the chamber had its eye on two bills that were proposed in this year’s legislative session
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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FRISCO EDITION • JUNE 2021
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