It’s that time again! Early voting began April 22 for Richardson city elections, with election day following shortly on May 3.
In this election there are seven seats to be filled, the biggest being mayor. There are three candidates running for mayor, Alan C. North, Amir Omar and current mayor, Bob Dubey.
Dubey has been the mayor since 2023, and before that he served on the city council for six years. Dubey has lived in Richardson for over 50 years, attending Richardson Independent School Districts schools K-12. Dubey continued in RISD for 40 years as a teacher and athletic director.
Omar was first elected as the Place 7 council member for Richardson in 2009 and re-elected for a second term in 2011. This is Omar’s second time running for mayor after his loss to Laura Jordan in 2012. Before his city council run, Omar served on the Richardson Rotary, Richardson Chamber of Commerce, and Methodist Richardson Medical Center Foundation Board. After Omar’s loss for the mayoral election he earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, and continued to work in his community on goals he set during his time on city council.
North is a Richardson native where he has lived his whole life and built many businesses including a women’s health club and WeightPerfect Products inc. In 2012 North was one the leading citizens to make the office of mayor a directly elected position by the people of Richardson.
Besides the mayor election there are six city council seats open, with five being run unopposed. City Council Place 1, Curtis Dorian, City Council Place 2, Jennifer Justice, City Council Place 3, Dan Barrios, City Council Place 4, Joe Corcoran, City Council Place 5, Ken Hutchenrider.
City Council Place 6 is the only competitive seat with Arefin Shamsul and Lisa Marie Kupfer as candidates.
Shamsul is the incumbent place holder, being elected in 2021. In the past, He served on many boards and committees such as, Richardson Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Building and Standards Commission for almost 10 years, Richardson Chamber of Commerce Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, RISD Bond Steering Committee, and The Richardson Complete Count Committee.
Shamsul has lived in Richardson for 15 years after getting his Master of Science in civil engineering degree from the University of Maryland at College Park. He now owns a consulting firm for civil engineering.
Kupfer has not previously held a seat on the Richardson City council. However, she has been a part of many community organizations and boards, such as the City of Richardson Library Board, City of Richardson Zoning Board of Adjustment & Building and Standards Commission, and Envision Richardson Comprehensive Plan Ambassador. Kupfer has lived in Richardson for 14 years and has been involved with the community the entire time.
These city selections are some of the most important ones.
Local elections are the ones closest to you and affect you directly.
If you need to find your precinct or view a ballot before you vote, you can find that information at http://www.cor.net/government/city-secretary/elections.
