Duncanville May 2022 Election Results

In Duncanville’s 2018 City Council election, Mark D. Cooks narrowly won his bid to represent District 4 by receiving one vote more than his opponent. In 2022, Cooks ran for the position of Duncanville Mayor against the incumbent Barry L. Gordon and two other candidates. After all the votes were counted, Cooks and Gordon were tied with 1,050 votes each. A runoff election will be scheduled sometime in June.

Gordon was elected Mayor in 2018. In this newspaper’s recent Voter’s Guide, his objectives were “Continued economic development by attracting both entrepreneurs and major firms to the city considering the limited vacant land in the city, which is roughly 95% built out. My contribution will be strong support of these goals; support of the goals and execution of facets of the comprehensive plan; and see and support the fulfillment of bond projects approved by our citizens.”

Cooks, who previously served as Mayor Pro Tem, is semi-retired from 40 years in banking. He is an Account Executive Manager for Cooks Law Firm in Dallas, a firm owned by his son. Cooks has served as Dallas Black Chamber board member, a member of the Tri Cities NAACP, and Vice President for the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. He formerly served as Duncanville Economic Development Board President, on the Duncanville Board of Adjustments, and Duncanville Citizens Police Academy.

District 4 Council Seat

Two candidates filed to replace Cooks on the District 4 council seat. Karen Cherry, who is the founder of SIP Consults—a health care consulting and staffing firm, and of Kacy’s Properties. Cherry, who has spent over 38 years in the health care industry, was victorious over her opponent, Brenda O’Brien.

In another contested race, for Duncanville City Council District 2, incumbent Don McBurnett defeated his opponent, Nancy Gutierrez. In his responses to this newspaper’s recent Voter’s Guide survey, McBurnett said he had lived in Duncanville 38 years and his “experience in business, chiefly in Accounting and Finance, is a plus for (the City’s) Budgeting and Planning, cost analysis process. Working for the State of Texas I have an understanding of the political climate and issues which we face locally.”

Duncanville ISD School Board

Duncanville ISD School Board Trustee Jackie Culton was victorious in her campaign for re-election to the position she held the past three years, defeating former Trustee Tom Kennedy in his bid to return to the board. Culton is a civil engineer and program manager for the City of Duncanville.

In her responses to the Focus Daily News Voter’s Guide, Culton pointed out that “Duncanville School Board was named as one of the top 5 school boards in Texas in 2021 out of over 1,000 school boards.”