Several Dallas residents may soon expect a shake up in their City Council representatives following the May 2025 election, more specifically, constituents of Districts 4 and 7. For the first time in a decade, District 4 will not be held by incumbent Carolyn King Arnold, who was deemed ineligible due to term limits. Additionally, District 7 may see its first female council member since Tiffani A. Young was elected to office in 2015. Eighteen of the fifty candidates for Dallas city council are women.
Young was the last female representative of this district, succeeding the late Councilwoman Carolyn Davis in 2015. Young was defeated in the District 7 Race by Kevin Fielder in 2017 in a runoff election. In this election cycle, then candidate Bazaldua only saw roughly thirteen percent of votes. Bazaldua has held the District 7 seat since he defeated Young in the 2019 runoff election by two points.
The Incumbent
Incumbent District 7 City Council Member Adam Bazaldua faces five challengers to his seat in the May 2025 election, only one of whom is a female candidate. If he is elected, it will be a decade since the seat has been held by a woman, and the fourth and final term Bazaldua will be eligible to serve as a council member under the newly passed Proposition E.
Adam Bazaldua
At Dallas Weekly’s monthly community political forum, On the Rocks Political Pour Overs, Bazaldua highlighted possible changes District 7 residents can expect regardless of the incumbent’s potential reelection. Councilman Bazaldua expressed his pride in securing the government bond that contributed towards a $20 million remodel of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in Fair Park.
“That Center is a lifeline of so many residents of South Dallas. I hate to only hone in on that, but to me, that was such a huge win within this bond.”
Bazaldua encouraged his constituents to embrace economic changes and gentrification, stating “We need more businesses,” and restating the need for development of the land in South Dallas.
“The scary part of gentrification is displacement, and we can’t convolute the two subjects. What we have to do is be thoughtful about the gentrification that is coming in, that’s inevitably coming in,” Bazaldua said.
At the conclusion of his sixth term, Bazaldua says he is focused on ensuring his promise to constituents regarding improved infrastructure is maintained.
“There are so many projects in that bond that’s addressing under investment in infrastructure, like sidewalks for certain neighborhoods, alleyways that have never been paid. So being able to see the fruits of this bond that a lot of labor was put into is my biggest focus to close out my last term.”
The Contenders
The remainder of candidates for District 7 all have varying levels of experience in the Dallas political arena.
Cydney Walker
District 7 Candidate Cydney Chantal Walker is the only woman on the ballot for District 7 in the upcoming May 2025 City Council elections. Had she not filed her name for the ballot on February 14, District 7 would have indefinitely seen a sixth city council term without a woman in their seat. Roughly one-third of candidates on the finalized list of Dallas City Council Candidates are women. Walker is a project manager whose entrance in politics came as a consequence of her presence at the Texas Legislative session in 2000. As the founder of Coffee and Politics 101, Walker aims to increase political literacy and advocate for stronger relationships between community leaders and their constituents.
Lamar “Yaka” Jefferson
One of the District 7 candidates, Lamar “Yaka” Jefferson previously filed a civil case in the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in November of 2023 after being denied a spot on the 2023 municipal ballot. Key defendants named in this case include incumbent Bazaldua, Carolyn King Arnold and Mayor Eric Johnson. Johnson ran unopposed for Mayor in 2023 and won the seat. The plaintiffs, Jefferson and his brother Jrmar, a failed congressional candidate in 2023, have had little to no action in the case since early 2024 until last Friday, February 21. The plaintiffs were ordered to file for the court’s electronic filing system by March 14, 2025, to avoid dismissal of filing.
Marvin Crenshaw
Write-in candidate Marvin Eugene Crenshaw is once more on the ballot after unsuccessfully running for District 7 in 2023 and in 2017. Crenshaw was defeated in both cycles by Bazaldua. An Austin, Texas native, Crenshaw is known for his anti-apartheid movement in Dallas and political activism in the city since the early 1970s. He was also a co-plaintiff on the Williams v Dallas case that altered the 8-3 voting system of Dallas City Council districts that kept African-Americans from being “elected to any of the at-large seats.”
O’Neil Hesson
District 7 candidate O’Neil Hesson is the founder of the SERUN (Socioeconomic Revitalization of Urban Neighborhoods) Foundation and a community engagement manager with a nonprofit organization rooted in South Dallas. Hesson’s Clean the Block Initiative that aids low-income residents with staying educated about city code and properly disposing their trash. Hesson’s nonprofit strives to improve the socioeconomic inequity that exists in South Dallas by starting with environmental discrimination and waste mismanagement.
Jose “Joe” Rivas, Jr.
Deputy ombudsman Jose “Joe” Rivas Jr. is the final candidate Bazaldua must face if he aims to keep his District 7 seat. Rivas’ platform is based on “protecting single family neighborhoods” among a variety of topics related to waste management and implementing stronger police and fire pension systems. In 2024 Rivas spoke of his disdain for the lack of cooperation from police officers on internal investigations following civilian complaints to the police advisory board, saying the board was “stonewalled” by an uncooperative department.
Though District 7 voters have six candidates to choose from this Election Day, the polls will not open for two more months on May 3, 2025. Early voting begins on April 22.