FORNEY, Texas — In a landslide victory, Forney mayoral candidate and former Forney City Council member Jason Roberson defeated former council member Mike Thomas to become the City of Forney's next mayor — 1,312 votes to 565 votes, or nearly 70% of the total vote.
The two were in a heated contest for the mayoral seat which did not see a challenger in incumbent Mayor Amanda Lewis, who did not file to seek re-election.
Much of the campaign trail for both parties focused on public safety, its funding, and response times for CareFlite ground ambulatory services — which have come under scrutiny due to extended response times being excluded from times being reported to the public, a practice acceptable under the terms of the contract established with Kaufman County.
To that end, the Forney Police Officers Association and the Forney Professional Firefighters Associations endorsed Roberson early in the race and were critical of Thomas' previous tenure on the council.
Roberson led in early voting by about 68% and ultimately captured 69.90% of the total votes, according to unofficial election results provided by Kaufman County.
"Thank you for electing me to serve as your next mayor," Mayor-Elect Roberson told inForney.com. "I'm looking forward to representing and amplifying your voice. Together we can lead our city into the future."
The only other contested seat on the Forney City Council was Place 6, which had been vacated by Roberson in accordance with the City Charter which requires council members seeking to run in the mayoral race to resign their position.
In that race, Greg Helm defeated Nate Dettmer 916 votes to 802 votes, or 53.32% to 46.68%.
Place 2 Council member Cecil Chambers and Place 4 Council member Sarah Salgado ran unopposed.
