Dallas City Hall
Dallas City Council member Carolyn King Arnold, who represents south Oak Cliff, won’t get a spot on the May 3 city election ballot due to new term limit rules that make her ineligible.
Arnold filed for reelection despite a voter-approved charter amendment that went into effect in November barring term-limited council members from being eligible to run for their positions after serving four two-year terms.
According to the Dallas Morning News, city secretary Bilierae Johnson confirmed Monday that Arnold didn’t meet the qualifications to be put on the ballot because she has already been elected to four full terms since 2015. Johnson said the new restrictions apply to past, current and future City Council members.
Arnold is a longtime council member, and up until the November election, she would have been eligible to seek another two-year term before being term-limited. She served one two-year term starting in 2015, lost a reelection bid in 2017, won a special election in 2018 to serve the remainder of a resigned council member’s term, and then was elected to the council in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Council members Tennell Atkins in District 8 and Omar Narvaez in District 6 are also term-limited after being on the council for eight years in a row.
