You know what time it is. For the second and final time this week. Today, I will analyze the results of both Propositions A in Dallas County and the City of Dallas. This will be a much quicker analysis since I don’t think the results here are shocking. Plus, I’m tired from doing the midterm analysis.
I’m basing the descriptions of both propositions from this NBC 5 DFW article.
Dallas County Prop A
What is Dallas County Prop A?
The first proposition focused on fixing homelessness in the county.
This measure would’ve increased the county property tax rate to generate around $100 million a year, or about $5 a month for the average homeowner, in an effort to resolve encampments, help the homeless achieve self-sufficiency, increase access to mental healthcare, and support stable housing.
I voted for this proposition. I believe it’s important that we address homelessness in a thoughtful and sustained manner. Unfortunately, voters disagreed.
Overall turnout
This proposition drew 46.94% of Dallas County’s registered voters to decide its fate. That is definitely a large drop-off from the flashier federal and state races. But it’s still not too shabby for a municipal measure.
Here are the top five communities that made their voices heard:
Preston Hollow: 64.03%
Park Cities: 61.67%
Northwest Dallas: 55.99%
North Dallas: 55.81%
Coppell: 55.08%
And the bottom five:
Piedmont: 37.06%
Pleasant Grove: 36.15%
Kleberg-Rylie: 35.80%
East Oak Cliff: 35.48%
South Dallas: 32.98%
The Bellwether Award for Overall Turnout for Dallas County Prop A goes to Carrollton, with 46.78%. Carrollton finally makes it to my Substack.
And for the most part and yet again rather predictably, wealthier and whiter voters made sure they voted while working-class communities of color didn’t.
Results
Now we ask: Which communities supported this measure and which opposed?
Countywide, 48.13% of registered voters approved this measure while 51.87% rejected.
Here are the top five communities that voted in favor:
Downtown: 59.47%
East Dallas: 57.99%
Love Field: 57.77%
Addison: 56.52%
Northeast Dallas: 56.41%
And the bottom five:
Lancaster & Glenn Heights: 40.69%
Rowlett: 40.18%
Sachse: 39.19%
Southeast Suburbs: 38.23%
Sunnyvale: 35.66%
The Bellwether Award for Dallas County Prop A Voters goes to Buckner Terrace, with 47.68% voting in favor.
For these two lists, we don’t immediately spot a clean trend along socioeconomic lines. It seems that these ten communities are middle- or upper-middle class.
But that doesn’t mean voters opted to randomly vote for or against this measure. In fact, we do see one pattern: all of the bottom five communities reside in County Commissioner District 3, represented by John Wiley Price, who voted against adding it to the ballot. Perhaps voters there felt less inclined to decide either way since their commissioner didn’t support it. That is the power of an elected official, especially in a municipal race.
City of Dallas Prop A
What is City of Dallas Prop A?
Whereas the county proposition addressed homelessness, the city proposition asked voters to authorize $443 million for public safety facility projects, including a training complex, an emergency operations center, and a vehicle storage facility.
I voted against this proposition. In 2024, Dallas voters approved — wrongly, in my opinion — two of the HERO amendments. One of them, Prop U, forced the city to maintain a minimum of 4,000 police officers while mandating that “at least 50% of any additional revenue the city receives from any source would be directed to the police and fire pension fund and higher salaries for police.”
With this year’s cop-oriented proposition, I sensed that Dallas wanted to build a sort of police industrial complex. Thankfully, this time, voters rejected.
Overall turnout
This proposition drew 49.41% of Dallas’ registered voters to approve or reject. Again, not too bad for a municipal measure.
Here are the top five communities with the most turnout:
Preston Hollow: 66.94%
North Dallas: 58.74%
Northwest Dallas: 58.55%
Far North Dallas: 55.78%
Greenville: 55.28%
And the bottom five:
Piedmont: 39.60%
Kleberg-Rylie: 39.07%
Pleasant Grove: 38.91%
East Oak Cliff: 38.44%
South Dallas: 35.65%
The Bellwether Award for Overall Turnout for City of Dallas Prop A goes to North & West Oak Cliff, with 49.66%.
The turnout patterns are not surprising, as they resemble almost any other election.
Results
Now let’s look at which communities voted for or against.
Citywide, 43.66% of registered voters approved while 56.34% opposed.
Here are the top five communities that voted for this measure:
Downtown: 50.75%
Preston Hollow: 49.20%
North Dallas: 47.44%
Love Field: 47.32%
Northwest Dallas: 46.64%
And the bottom five:
Kiest Park: 39.37%
Buckner Terrace: 39.22%
South Dallas: 37.54%
West Dallas: 37.30%
The Hills: 37.18%
The Bellwether Award for City of Dallas Prop A Voters goes to East Dallas, with 43.86% voting in favor.
This time, we see a glaringly obvious trend: wealthier and whiter communities wished for more police resources while working-class black and Hispanic communities pushed back. Again, not that unexpected. No social commentary from me this time.
Conclusion
So what can we glean from the results of these two propositions? I think that, especially with this midterm election, voters felt uneasy about anything they didn’t fully comprehend. While that rings true for the city’s proposition, the county’s proposition suffered the same fate.
So, better luck next time tackling homelessness? I sure hope so. It’s high time we start fixing homelessness in an intentional and systematic manner.