DALLAS — Following Saturday's runoff elections, the next city council rosters for Dallas and Fort Worth are now complete.
In each city, one final seat was up for grabs in the June 10 vote. In Fort Worth, Jeanette Martinez received 59.09% of the ballots cast to win her seat as District 11's representative over Rick Herring. In Dallas, Zarin Gracey earned 62.57% of the votes to win District 3's seat.
Martinez's win is an especially historic one, as she's the first Hispanic woman to be voted onto Fort Worth City Council. Her win also means that Fort Worth -- a city whose Hispanic residents make up more than 30% of its population -- will now, for the first time in its history, have two Hispanic councilmembers at once. (District 2's Carlos Flores is the other.)
Martinez, 39, will represent District 11, a district that was created during a 2022 redistricting effort triggered by a 2020 census report and a 2016 vote in which Fort Worth residents approved increasing the number of council districts in the city from nine to 11. Over 60% of the residents in District 11, which runs along the east side of Downtown Fort Worth, are Hispanic.
Martinez, who previously worked as an administrator in Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks' office, earned 36.3% of the vote in the May 6 election that spurred the runoff. Her opponent, community advocate Herring, 58, earned 34.08% in that May vote among five potential choices.
In Dallas, first-time candidate and pastor Gracey, 46, will take over the District 3 seat vacated by Casey Thomas, who was forced to end his run on council because of term limits. Gracey, who served as a policy advisor for Thomas, also had Thomas' endorsement.
Gracey has also previously served on the City Plan Commission, the Dallas Public Facility Corporation and held leadership posts at Dallas City Hall.
In May, Gracey received 46% of the vote to retired teacher and online radio host Tave's 26% in a field of five candidates within District 3, which covers a large swath of southwest Dallas that boasts a 44% Hispanic and 43% Black population.
This election was Tave's fifth unsuccessful bid to earn a seat on Dallas City Council.
Along with their colleagues on their respective councils, both Martinez and Gracey will be sworn into office on Tuesday, June 20.