Your trusted source for community news
Municipal election voter guide May 2025

Candidates to face off for city council, school board

Posted

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Carolina Waller's request to withdraw her name from the ballot was received before the deadline. Her name will not appear on the May 3 ballot.

Local voters will select two city council members and three school board trustees in the May Joint and Special Election on May 3.

The Branch Herald sent questionnaires to all the candidates in all three races. Their responses are included in the Municipal Election Voter Guide 2025 special edition newsletter and on the Branch Herald Elections page.  Questionnaires are listed in the order the candidates will be listed on the ballot.

Seats for Farmers Branch City Council Districts 1 and 4 are open, as are three seats for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (CFBISD) Board of Trustees.

Mayor Pro Tem Omar Roman is running for re-election against candidate Isabel Romero for District 1. Carolina (Barbosa) Waller has withdrawn from the race, and her name will not appear on the ballot.

Romero declined to submit an answered candidate questionnaire to the Branch Herald.

For District 4, Deborah Bowe and Elizabeth Villafranca will face off. Incumbent Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Richard Jackson is not seeking re-election.

Seven candidates will vie for three open seats on the CFBISD school board. Incumbents Tara Hrbacek, Kim Brady and Ileana L. Garza-Rojas will face Brady Barnett, Rangoli Mathur, Paul Gilmore and Nicole Yarbrough. Andy Baldwin withdrew his candidate application before the deadline. His name will not appear on the ballot.

Board of trustees are elected using cumulative voting. In this process, every voter within the school district may cast three votes because there are three seats open on the ballot. Individual voters may cast all of their votes for one candidate or divide their votes among the candidates.

The last day to register to vote is April 3. People who turn 18 between April 3 and May 3 can register to vote as long as they are 17 years and 10 months and will be 18 years of age on Election Day.