Early voting ends Tuesday for the Saturday local elections, which includes races for Waco mayor and city council seats and three China Spring ISD board seats.
Early voting is available at four vote centers:
- Waco Multi-Purpose Community Center, 1020 Elm Ave.
- West Waco Library, 5301 Bosque Boulevard
- McLennan County elections office, 214 N. Fourth St., Suite 300
- Hewitt City Hall / Library, 200 Patriot Court.
The vote centers are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Here are some highlights of races to watch, followed by a roundup of contested races in schools and cities around the county.
- In Waco, incumbent District 1 City Councilmember Andrea Barefield faces a challenge from Rachel Pate, vice president of the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce. Barefield, a government consultant, has served the East Waco district since 2018. See our story on the race and our candidate Q&A.
- Waco Mayor Jim Holmes, an investment banker who has served on the council since 2016, is seeking a second term as mayor. He faces two challengers: Aiden Morgan, a young healthcare worker running on a populist platform, and David Howard Ponder, a former public school teacher. Morgan said Tuesday he is withdrawing from the race, but he will still appear on the ballot. Here’s our Q&A with mayoral candidates.
- The Waco District 3 City Council seat vacated by Josh Borderud, who decided not to run for another term, will be filled by Waco real estate developer Jed Cole, who is unopposed.
- Lacy Lakeview is seeing concerns and frustrations over the city’s data center proposal evolve into a political movement. Amy Gage, an opponent of the Infrakey data center project, is running for one of Lacy Lakeview’s at-large city council seats. Read our Q&As with candidates.
- China Spring ISD is the only large school district with a contested race. In fact, it has 10 people running for three seats, and only one of those seats features an incumbent. A voter-approved tax rate election measure that passed in November may have mobilized candidates to run. Read our Q&As with the candidates.
Hewitt, McGregor and Woodway canceled their elections due to uncontested races, but some of those cities will see new council members who are running unopposed. In Woodway, Meg Wallace, founder of Mobilize Waco, will fill the Place 1 Woodway City Council seat, while Kyle Kriegel will take an at-large council seat. In Hewitt, Mike Hamilton will fill the vacant Place 1 city council seat.
In addition to those cities, Waco ISD, La Vega ISD, Connally ISD and Midway ISD canceled their elections. Crawford ISD plans to cancel its election at its April board meeting after only two candidates filed for the open at-large seats: incumbent Jesse Bolgiano and newcomer Laura Irvin.
City of Waco
Mayor
Jim Holmes (incumbent)
Aiden Morgan
David Howard Ponder
City Council, District 1
Andrea Barefield (incumbent)
Rachel E. Pate
Bellmead
City Council, (At-Large)
Gary D. Moore (incumbent)
Katrinna Forest
Anita Gomez
Alfreda Love
Lacy Lakeview
City Council (At-Large, three open seats)
Richard Lednicky (incumbent)
Brenda Jameson (incumbent)
Natalie Lucero (incumbent)
Amy Gage
Lorena
City Council, (At-Large, three open seats)
Emily McKenzie (incumbent)
Jason Blanek (incumbent)
Kelly Yarbrough (incumbent)
Joe Gomez
Chantel Spivey
Lindsay (Lin) Conover
Mart
City Council (At-Large, three open seats)
Trevor Baize (incumbent)
Ray Gonzales
Dania Chapman
Andrea Fullner
Brenda Roberts
John Desmuke
John Young
Bobby Summers
Crawford
City Council (At-Large, three open seats)
Cindy Vannatta (incumbent)
Jared Farrell (incumbent)
Neil Watts (incumbent)
Richard Putnam
Gholson
City Council, Place 5
Richard Maddox (incumbent)
Joshua Rager
City Council, Place 6
Trey Laskey
Melissa Sparks Teal
Bosqueville ISD
Board of Trustees (At-large)
Lance Donaldson (incumbent)
Christie Harper (incumbent)
Susanne Burgin Cate
China Spring ISD
Board of Trustees, Place 1
Holly Dunham (incumbent)
Julie Daniel
Brad Minnix
Board of Trustees, Place 2
Ashlee Peacock
Frank A. McClellan
Conner Elliott
Board of Trustees, Place 3
Noey Meza
Joseph L. Hopkins
Anthony Collier
Jesse Gaston
Lorena ISD
Board of Trustees, (At-large, two open seats)
Mary Timmons (incumbent)
Corbett Boone (incumbent)
Ashley Payne
Heidi Pezdek
Valley Mills ISD
Board of Trustees, (At-large, two open seats)
Steven Owens (incumbent)
Sam Slover
Jennifer Boles
