District 14 Dallas City Council incumbent David Blewett has corralled the support of third-place finisher Elizabeth Viney in his runoff with challenger Paul Ridley. Viney earned 22.1 percent of the vote in the May 1 general election, behind Blewett’s 32.1 percent and Ridley’s plurality of 45.7 percent.
In her campaign literature, Viney hammered Blewett on his vote to reduce police overtime funding in this year’s budget. In the release announcing her support, Blewett says his vote was “a choice, in good faith, to prevent a greater attempt to defund the police department.” With four months left in the fiscal year, Blewett says the City has “exhausted all overtime funds,” and he and Viney “advocate aggressively” for restoring all funding to the police overtime budget, addressing the department’s officer shortage and ensuring proper training.
With a 13 percentage point lead over Blewett in the general election, Ridley had the early advantage heading into the runoff. The landscape changes if Viney can bring out her voters for Blewett.
Early voting for the runoff begins May 25, and game day voting is June 5.
