Abtahi’s Bid for Dallas City Council Falls Short
June 26, 2013, Dallas, Texas – Bobby Abtahi, former Dallas Plan Commissioner and City of Dallas Community Prosecutor, fell short in his bid on June 15th to make history by becoming the first Iranian American elected to the city council of Dallas, Texas, losing to opponent Philip Kingston.
With 100% of the precincts reporting, Abtahi trailed Kingston by 387 votes to become the next representative of District 14. The election was a runoff between the two men; Abtahi was originally one of seven candidates running to represent the district, which is being vacated by term-limited council member Angela Hunt.
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Abtahi earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and his JD from SMU Dedman School of Law. After graduating from law school, he went to work for the city of Dallas as a community prosecutor. At City Hall, Abtahi worked to build coalitions and help restore deteriorating neighborhoods. He was behind a popular program that used the National Guard to tear down drug houses. The program was recognized by the White House in January 2012.
Abtahi’s campaign was endorsed by former city council members as well as a number of community and business leaders throughout Dallas. On March 26, 2013, Abtahi won the backing of the city’s Real Estate Council of Dallas. He also had the support of the the MetroTex Association of Realtors and the Stonewall Democrats.
In addressing his supports after the results became known, Abtahi stated: “We started this campaign at 1 percent. That was our name ID. That’s how much of the vote we were going to get, 1 percent…And we came back and we showed people that you could have someone from the outside, you could have someone who wasn’t endorsed by the incumbent make a run for it and we did a great job.”
Click here to learn more about Bobby Abtahi’s campaign.
