In the May 5 local city elections that put Mike Foreman in the Friendswood mayor's office, voter turnout was the highest in at least the past five election cycles, data provided by the city shows.

Competitive races may have driven the increase. In 2018, a total of 12 candidates were in the running for six positions, including a joint election with the Galveston County Consolidated Drainage District, which had its first contested elections in recent memory.

A total of 4,177 people voted this year, a 72 percent increase over the 2016 election, which included the downtown sales tax proposition on the ballot.

From 2013 to 2018, the number of registered voters increased by about 11 percent, but turnout was 115 percent higher in 2018.

Despite the increases, overall voter turnout was only 15 percent in this year's city elections.