{"id":7167,"date":"2025-06-08T21:36:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/?p=7167"},"modified":"2025-06-08T21:36:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:36:13","slug":"cox-wins-mckinney-mayoral-runoff-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2025\/06\/08\/cox-wins-mckinney-mayoral-runoff-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Cox Wins McKinney Mayoral Runoff Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

McKinney’s New Mayor<\/h1>\n

In a contentious race to steer McKinney\u2019s growth as the city\u2019s next mayor, Bill Cox has defeated Scott Sanford in Saturday\u2019s runoff election.<\/p>\n

McKinney\u2019s rapid growth has brought development that has divided residents on visions for its future \u2014 a vision that the next elected leaders will guide, from the city\u2019s airport expansion project to its housing stock. The city has expanded from about 54,000 residents in 2000 to a population of more than 224,000 today, according to U.S. census data.<\/p>\n

The Election Results<\/h2>\n

Cox, a realtor and former council member, received 52.6% of votes, according to unofficial final results posted on Collin County\u2019s website, about 1,100 more votes than his opponent. Pastor and former Republican state representative Scott Sanford had 47.5%.<\/p>\n

The two men are vying to replace Mayor George Fuller, who is term-limited after leading the fast-growing city for eight years. Fuller had endorsed Cox.<\/p>\n

Reactions to the Results<\/h3>\n

\u201cMcKinney still has leadership that understands what they want, and we were fortunate to be on the side of what McKinney wants,\u201d Cox said late Saturday.<\/p>\n

The runoff saw a higher turnout than the May 3 election, with more than 21,000 voters casting a ballot in the June 7 mayoral race.<\/p>\n

Sanford said Saturday night he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d in the results but proud of his campaign team. He hopes the city\u2019s new leadership keeps an open mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that they would renew efforts to connect with the people, all other people, and respect their viewpoints and their concerns and address them appropriately,\u201d Sanford said.<\/p>\n

People walk out of the poling center at the John and Judy Gay Public Library in McKinney, Texas, on Saturday, June 7, 2025 during the city’s runoff election for mayor and at-large council member. (Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer)<\/span><\/p>\n

The City Council Election<\/h2>\n

In the city\u2019s other open council seat, Ernest Lynch led Jim Garrison by about 25 percentage points, according to unofficial final results.<\/p>\n

The men are vying to replace council member Charlie Philips.<\/p>\n

Lynch, a former CEO of Medical City McKinney, received 62.6% of the votes, followed by Garrison, a business owner, with 37.4%.<\/p>\n

The Airport Expansion Project<\/h3>\n

The McKinney National Airport has played a central role in the election, with some voters against city leader\u2019s persistence on the project\u2019s expansion and the disruption they fear will come from the addition of commercial service.<\/p>\n

The airport\u2019s addition of a passenger terminal has proceeded despite voters rejecting the city\u2019s request for bond funding for airport projects in previous elections. A conservation group recently filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to review the environmental impact of development at the airport.<\/p>\n

Cox, 61, said he supports making the most out of the city\u2019s investment in the airport.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Bill Cox, Matt Rostami, Scott Sanford, and Taylor Willingham, during the Mckinney Mayoral debate at the McKinney Performing Arts Center in McKinney Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2025. Estate attorney Taylor Willingham, realtor and former council member Bill Cox, pastor and former Republican state representative Scott Sanford and eye surgeon Dr. Matt Rostami are competing to fill Mayor George Fuller\u2019s seat.(Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor)<\/span><\/p>\n

Cox’s Vision for the City<\/h3>\n

Cox believes one of the city\u2019s biggest challenges will be how it manages undeveloped land outside of city limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat McKinney needs the most is a mayor that understands where we are, how we got here and where we\u2019re going in the future,\u201d Cox said outside the John and Judy Gay Public Library Saturday. \u201cWe have challenges ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanford’s Concerns<\/h3>\n

Sanford, 61, has sought greater transparency over economic development projects in McKinney, which have come under scrutiny from some taxpayers. Sanford has also called for a halt to airport expansion, so the city can better assess its return on investment.<\/p>\n

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McKinney’s New Mayor In a contentious race to steer McKinney\u2019s growth as the city\u2019s next mayor, Bill Cox has defeated Scott Sanford in Saturday\u2019s runoff election. McKinney\u2019s rapid growth has brought development that has divided residents on visions for its future \u2014 a vision that the next elected leaders will guide, from the city\u2019s airport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/FOVYRM277BBXPHKHZO3HKXJDKU.jpg?auth=eb2a0367144000fc902d1af9e76bdf248c51a740d2d6e955ccc2aba53e3d9697&height=630&width=1200&smart=true&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7169,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7167\/revisions\/7169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}