UNT English professor Deb Armintor defeated local real estate firm owner Aaron “Fuzzy” Newquist on Saturday with 54.12 percent of the vote for the city council place 5 spot. The runoff election saw 13,235 total ballots cast.

Upon winning, Armintor said she had a grassroots victory, and the results showed democracy works.

“I’m very, very happy and overwhelmed,” Armintor said. “This truly was a grassroots victory. I was out-fundraised and outspent.”

The new councilperson said there are a lot of ways Denton’s city council is currently making life difficult for citizens. She also said there are a number of things the council is doing right.

“There are a number of ways in which we — as a city government — are making people’s lives more difficult, not on purpose,” Armintor said. “I want to see us make people’s quality of life better or, at least, stop being a part of the problem.”

During a speech, Armintor’s supporters started chanting “dangerous Deb,” referencing a nickname Newquist’s mailers referred to her as during the campaign.

“I am not dangerous,” Armintor said. “I am so nice.”

At the end of her speech, Armintor asked the people to keep her accountable as she serves on the council.

“I’m so filled with gratitude for the people, and I want to tell everybody to hold me accountable,” Armintor said. “Let me know what to do because I look to the people for instructions.”

After the results came in, Newquist went to Facebook to thank his family, campaign volunteers and supporters. He said they spent countless hours volunteering and made a lot of sacrifices for his campaign

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“I will continue to be an advocate for lower taxes and better city services and will continue to work to serve Denton and those around me,” Newquist said.

Although he did not win, Newquist said he was happy with the voter turnout as he believes it shows a strong reflection of engagement on behalf of the city.

“In an environment where people would normally sit out because they are tired of all the elections, we got a pretty good number,” Newquist said.

Looking ahead, Newquist said he supports Armintor’s goals to lower the cost of living in Denton.

“We support her in her efforts to lower the cost of living and taxes in Denton,” Newquist said. “I think everybody can agree that is something we all want. She and I agreed on that aspect. We are praying for her as she goes into this phase of public service as we do with all our elected officials.”

Road to the election

During the general election, Newquist led Armintor with 46.81 percent of the vote but not a majority, which lead to the runoff on Saturday. The primary election knocked out Jodi Vicars-Nance and Bernard Vokoun from the race.

The campaign to follow took many twists and turns leading up to the runoff election. Newquist did not attend the NAACP forum as he told NAACP president Willie Hudspeth he could not add anything to his calendar.

This resulted in Armintor being the only candidate available to answer questions from constituents at the forum. Newquist said he reached out through block walking in person and phone calls.

During the first week of early voting, Newquist sent a message to voters in Robson Ranch, which is located in the southwest side of Denton. The letters called his opponent “dangerous” and criticized sanctuary cities and dual-language programs.

Newquist’s letters also brought party politics to the local race by calling himself the conservative choice. This caused endorsements to change throughout the campaign.

In a Twitter post, Newquist’s former opponent and city council candidate Jodi Vicars-Nance wrote she endorses no one.

Dalton Gregory, a former councilmember, withdrew his endorsement of Newquist because he believes city council elections should be non-partisan.

He wrote that Newquist’s reference to dual language has underlying racism.

“I am embarrassed to have my name associated with this kind of negative polarizing campaign,” Gregory said.

In a written statement, Newquist said he was informed of Armintor’s engagement with the democratic party, which resulted in his style of campaign. Newquist addressed Armintor and her supporters in the statement.

“Rather than addressing the facts and acknowledging the true differences between the candidates, they are playing the race card and attempting to divide us as a city based on fear, emotion and intimidation,” Newquist said in the statement.

The Denton Record-Chronicle reported the two candidate’s campaigns spent almost $17,000 together. Newquist’s campaign is responsible for $14,000 of the spending.

Featured image: Deb Armintor