Sandeep Sharma and Ann Martin held leads in their respective Flower Mound Town Council races, but it was unclear how many mail-in ballots might still need to be counted.
With more than 52% of the vote from early voting and Election Day, the incumbent Sharma led challenger David Johnson in the race for Place 2 on the council. Martin held a much wider lead—earning roughly 75% of votes—for the Place 5 seat over incumbent Council Member Claudio Forest.
While the unofficial results included all votes that were cast in person, as well as many mail-in ballots, it is possible that not all mail-in votes were reflected in the tallies. Under Texas election law, the clerk accepts and counts mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 4 if they were sent from inside the U.S. or Nov. 9 if they were sent from outside the U.S.
A county spokesperson declined to comment on the number of mail-in ballots being counted Nov. 4, and the elections administrator and his deputy did not return calls requesting comment.
Forest is facing a challenge from Martin, a skeptic of dense residential development. Martin has criticized Forest on the campaign trail for being too willing to amend the town’s master plan. Forest has said he is open to working with developers who want to bring projects to the town and negotiating with them to include new public amenities as part of their work.
The reverse dynamic is playing out in the other race, where Sharma is fending off a challenge from David Johnson, a member of the Flower Mound Planning and Zoning Commission. Sharma has said he is a proponent of low-density growth and a low property tax rate. Johnson favors a variety of project types that he said would expand the town’s tax base and enable the city to provide more amenities.
More than two-thirds of registered voters in Denton County cast ballots before Nov. 3, a higher share of the electorate than voted in the entire 2016 election cycle.
These results are unofficial until they are canvassed and certified by the county clerk.
Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
