By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews
FRISCO, ALLEN, PRINCETON — A divided vote in Frisco’s mayoral race will send the city to a runoff, while Allen voters delivered a decisive result in their mayoral contest. In Princeton, a council race without a majority is expected to move to a runoff under the city’s charter.
The results reflect different outcomes across Collin County, with one race decided outright and others continuing into a second round of voting.
Frisco Vote Splits Four Ways
In Frisco, no candidate reached the majority needed to win outright, setting up a runoff between Mark Hill and Rod Vilhauer.
Final combined results from Collin and Denton counties show:
- Mark Hill: 8,705 votes (34.64%)
- Rod Vilhauer: 7,895 votes (31.42%)
- Shona Sowell: 5,294 votes (21.07%)
- John Keating: 3,234 votes (12.87%)
Hill enters the runoff with a narrow lead, but more than 13,000 votes went to candidates who will not be on the next ballot.
The race unfolded around familiar issues for a fast-growing city: how to manage development, keep up with infrastructure demands, and maintain public services as population continues to climb. Traffic congestion, long-term planning, and the pace of growth were recurring themes throughout the campaign.
Now, the question shifts from who leads to who can build a coalition. Runoff elections tend to draw fewer voters, which can reshape the electorate. Both campaigns will need to reach voters who backed Sowell and Keating, as well as those who may not return to the polls.
Frisco’s results also reflect the city’s footprint across two counties. Combined reporting provides a more complete picture of the race, with total votes exceeding 25,000.
Allen Delivers a Clear Outcome
In Allen, the race for mayor was decided without uncertainty.
Chris Schulmeister secured the position with 3,278 votes, or 81.10%, defeating Dave Shafer, who received 764 votes (18.90%).
The margin leaves little room for interpretation. Voters made a clear choice in a race that centered on managing growth, maintaining city services, and addressing infrastructure needs in an established but still expanding community.
Unlike Frisco, Allen’s contest did not hinge on multiple candidates dividing the vote. The outcome was settled as returns came in, avoiding the need for a second round.
Frisco Council Races Set Direction
Frisco voters also filled two city council seats, both decided outright.
In Place 5, Laura Rummel won with 16,348 votes (66.18%), finishing well ahead of Vijay Karthik and Sreekanth Reddy.
In Place 6, Brittany Colberg secured 13,838 votes (56.92%), defeating three opponents.
These races carried many of the same themes as the mayoral contest, with candidates addressing growth, zoning decisions, and infrastructure planning. The results give both winners a clear majority as they prepare to take office.
Princeton Race Reflects Growing City
In Princeton, a four-candidate race for City Council Seat 4 produced a clear top finisher but no majority winner.
- Jan Goria: 198 votes (41.68%)
- Jaisen Rutledge: 157 votes (33.05%)
- Sharad Ramani: 103 votes (21.68%)
- Hassan Abdulkareem: 17 votes (3.58%)
Goria led the field by more than eight percentage points, but received less than 50 percent of the vote.
Under Princeton’s Home Rule Charter, a runoff election is required when no candidate receives a majority.
Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. addressed the issue in a public Facebook post, stating the runoff process “is not optional” under the city’s governing document.
“According to the City’s Home Rule Charter… if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a runoff election is required between the top two candidates,” Escobar wrote. “This is not optional — it is the process defined in our governing document.”
Escobar also emphasized that city leadership is bound to follow the charter as written.
“We do not have the authority to go outside of the Charter. We are required to follow it,” he wrote.
Because no candidate reached a majority, the race is expected to move to a runoff between the top two finishers, pending formal action by the City Council.
Attention Turns to the Runoff
With Allen’s race settled, the focus shifts to what comes next.
Runoff elections in Frisco and Princeton will determine the final outcomes in races where no candidate secured a majority. Both contests now move into a shorter campaign period ahead of a second round of voting.
TX3DNews has reached out to candidates in the Frisco runoff and Allen mayoral race for comment and will update this story as responses are received.