District 1 Waco City Council Member Andrea Barefield won a fifth term in Saturday’s election, fending off a hard-fought challenge from Rachel E. Pate. Mayor Jim Holmes also handily won a second term.
Barefield, who has been on the council since 2018, received 258 votes, or 56.7% of the 455 ballots cast, according to unofficial results. Pate, vice president of economic development for the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, received 197 votes or 43.3%.
Barefield watched the final votes stream in at her watch party at The Brazos Landing.
“I think that consistency is proof,” Barefield told The Bridge Saturday evening. Proof, she said, that “we’ve what we’ve done over the past eight years is what (the community) asked for.”
Barefield pointed to the investment and projects she’s seen out in District 1 over her tenure, including the Bledsoe Miller STEAM Center, bringing a bank to East Waco for the first time since the 1930s and channeling city capital into renovated streets.
She said her fifth term would be a combination of staying the course, and pivoting to “improving systems to make our communities even stronger.”
Barefield celebrated among friends, family and two of her Waco City Council colleagues, Josh Borderud and Isabel Lozano. Borderud arrived with a bullhorn to congratulate Barefield at the riverside restaurant.
“The votes are in and she’s done it again!” Borderud shouted to the applause of Barefield’s team.
The four-term incumbent has championed the city’s downtown development project, which her opponent criticized in the lead-up to Saturday’s election.
Pate congratulated Barefield in a Facebook Live post.
During a speech at her watch party, she said she hoped her campaign made a difference.
“I hope that the things that were brought to light and the issues that were discussed and the problems that were unearthed are the things that we get to focus on and work in and do better on moving forward,” she said.
Pate said her 43% share of the total is more than any of Barefield’s previous challengers have received. In an interview with KWBU at the watch party, Pate attributed that to her “people first” message.
“People resonated with what we were saying,” Pate said. “Putting people first and prioritizing the things that strengthen our families and strengthen our businesses and making them the forefront of this progress.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Holmes won 2,297 votes in Saturday’s election, or 83.1% of the 2,763 votes cast. Former educator David Ponder won 235 votes or 8.5%, and health care worker Aiden Morgan won 231 votes or 7.5%. Morgan announced this week that he was no longer seeking the office and endorsed Holmes.
Holmes, 69, is an investment banker who has served on the council since 2016, first as District 5 council member.
Data center at issue in Lacy Lakeview
Saturday’s election included other city and school elections across the county, including city council matchups in Lacy Lakeview and Bellmead and three school board races in China Spring Independent School District.
In Lacy Lakeview, newcomer Amy Gage, who opposed the city’s plans to partner on a data center, won a seat on the council, while a data center proponent lost his seat.
The election had four candidates for three at-large seats.
Gage won 91 votes, or 32.9% of the 277 votes cast. Council Member Brenda Jameson won 74 votes or 26.7%; and incumbent Natalie Lucero won 65 or 23.5%, ensuring they returned to the council.
Richard Lednicky, a champion of the partnership, received the least support – 47 votes, or 17% – and will step down.
“I think the data center has a lot to do with (the win),” Gage told The Bridge shortly after the results arrived Saturday night. “I think that the council has been under the impression that Lacy Lakeview wants this and that a majority of people want it.”
In China Spring ISD’s Place 1 trustee election, PTA official Julie Daniel won 44.2% of 923 votes cast, defeating incumbent Holly Dunham, who received 43.2%, and Brad Minnix, who got 12.4%.
In the district’s Place 2 election, Ashlee Peacock won a three-way race with 49.7% of the vote. In Place 3, Anthony Collier won 51.2% of the vote to win a four-way race.
