Our recommendation for Dallas City Council District 7
Incumbent Bazaldua faces seven rivals: Brown, Felder, Higgins, Johnson, Parish, Turknett and Varela.
Eight candidates are vying to represent District 7 in the Dallas City Council, a whopping slate for a municipal race and the most packed out of 14 contested council seats in this city. The district covers a stretch of diverse Dallas neighborhoods, from the South Dallas/Fair Park area to Buckner Terrace to Far East Dallas. These neighborhoods have long struggled with disproportionate crime rates, disinvestment and uneven council representation.
The race has become a referendum on incumbent Adam Bazaldua’s handling of Dallas police budget discussions last year in the aftermath of nationwide summer protests against racial injustice. His most formidable challengers are pastor and nonprofit founder Donald Parish Jr. and attorney Calvin Johnson, two longtime community advocates. Both say they are running against Bazaldua because of his role in cutting $7 million from the Dallas police overtime budget as an understaffed police force tried to contain a spike in violent crime.