George Clayton
The race for Dallas City Council District 2 has officially began, as incumbent and Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano’s nephew tossed his hat into the ring this week.
Adam Medrano, a Dallas ISD trustee, filed to run and fill his aunt’s seat she’s vacating due to term limits.
Medrano resigned from his position as a supervisor in the Park and Recreation department last month, which was a requirement to run. He’ll have to resign from the school board if elected.
Pauline Medrano has a strong record of supporting the LGBT community, and her nephew has ridden alongside her more than once in the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade. Adam Medrano also voted in favor of LGBT-inclusive policies prohibiting bullying and harassment as a member of the Dallas school board.
But openly gay real estate developer Herschel Weisfeld also plans to run for the District 2 seat. Dallas hasn’t had an openly gay council member since Ed Oakley resigned in 2007 to run for mayor.
With the district covering most of Oak Lawn, as well as parts of downtown and East Dallas, it’s one of the gayest, if not the gayest, council districts, so Weisfeld and Medrano will have to compete for the LGBT vote.
Meanwhile in Richardson, former State Board of Education member George Clayton announced his plans to run for a seat on the Richardson school board.
Clayton was defeated in last year’s Republican Primary after he was outed as gay.
Although Clayton works for Dallas ISD, he lives in Richardson. He sent a letter to DISD Superintendent Mike Miles and Thomas Jefferson High School Principal Aamir Ashiqali informing them of his candidacy.
“Three years ago I announced my candidacy for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education, an election I went on to win,” Clayton wrote. “Now, at the urging of many good friends, I have decided to run for a seat on the Richardson Independent School District Board of Trustees.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 8, 2013.