Lori Klein Quinn won the seat for mayor over incumbent Gretchen Fagan after 1,004 city of Tomball registered voters voted in the May 7 election.
“I’m excited, I'm ready to get started, I'm a little scared [but] very humbled at the outpouring of support,” Klein Quinn said in a phone interview May 9.
Klein Quinn’s plans as mayor include getting more young people involved. She said she would like to get the younger generation involved in the process of government and on boards and commissions to help make decisions for the city. She said she would be sworn in May 16.
“We need to build that next generation of leadership,” Klein Quinn said in a phone interview May 9.
Fagan has been mayor since 2007 and worked to bring revitalization and improvements to Old Town Tomball and the parks, according to answers she gave in a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper. Before her role as mayor, Fagan served on council from 2004-07, according to the city of Tomball website.
With Klein Quinn stepping down from her council position to run for mayor, Position 5 was left open for someone to finish Klein Quinn’s term, which expires in 2023, according to previous reporting. Two candidates, Randy Parr and Matthew Martinez, ran for that seat with Parr winning with 68.96% of votes, according to unofficial election results from the city.
Parr—the city’s fire chief who retired in April 2021, is a former CPA and is a consultant for fire and EMS agencies—is looking forward to his time on City Council.
"I'm looking forward to a lot of hard work. There's things we need to address with a new mayor, and we still have a runoff election. ... It's still up in the air as to how we move forward. I've got some ideas on things I'd like to address at council," Parr said in a phone interview on election night.
While the mayoral and Position 5 races are decided, Position 3 comes down to a runoff election set for June 4, as none of the three candidates met the 51% threshold to secure the seat.
Incumbent Chad Degges and challenger Dane Dunagin will continue to run their campaigns for Position 3.
Degges, an engineer and business owner, said he previously has not had an opponent and also never experienced a runoff, but he said he is ready for the challenge to get voters to the polls again.
“I’m going to continue to run hard and get out the vote for this election. I want to congratulate Lori on her election and want to thank Gretchen for her years of service and leadership. ... I’m proud of everybody that ran,” Degges said in a phone interview May 9.
Dunagin, a retiree from Baker Hughes, said he was pleased so many people voted and made their voices heard.
City election records report 13% of the city’s registered voters cast a ballot in the election. The 2014 City Council election—elections in 2015-21 were not contested—had a 10% voter turnout of the city’s registered voters.
"I'm just happy that people did consider voting for me. I'm going to try to reach out to the people that voted and see what issues they had with me, ... see what I didn't do positive and see what I need to do to carry on. ... I'm going to listen to what Tomball really wants, not what I want," Dunagin said in a phone interview on election night.
Early voting for the June 4 runoff election for Position 3 is May 23, May 25-27 and May 31 from 7:45 a.m.-5 p.m. and on May 24 from 7:45 a.m.-7:45 p.m. There will be no early voting on May 30, which is Memorial Day.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on June 4, according to the city of Tomball election website.
Registered voters can cast a ballot at City Hall, located at 401 Market St., Tomball.
All results are unofficial until canvassed. Canvassing of the May 7 election will be held at the regular Tomball City Council meeting May 16 at 6 p.m., according to the city of Tomball website.
