Frisco mayoral race heads to June 13 runoff after no majority winner

Frisco voters did not choose a mayor outright. Mark Hill led the May 2 race with 8,705 votes, or 34.64%, but Rod Vilhauer’s 7,895 votes, or 31.42%, forced a runoff that will decide who takes over a fast-growing city split between Collin and Denton counties.

The runoff is set for Saturday, June 13, 2026, and the final canvass of the May 2 election is scheduled for a special called Frisco City Council meeting on May 12 at 4 p.m. Under Frisco’s rules, a candidate needed more than 50% to win outright. With four candidates on the ballot, Hill and Vilhauer advanced, while Shona Sowell finished third with 5,294 votes, or 21.07%, and John Keating received 3,234 votes, or 12.87%.

The outcome leaves residents with a clear choice on the city’s next mayor at a moment when growth, traffic, taxes, development and public safety remain among the most consequential issues in Frisco. The mayor and six council members are elected at-large under the city’s council-manager form of government, giving the winner broad responsibility over decisions that affect neighborhoods across both counties.

Turnout in the mayor’s race reached 25,128 votes, a stronger showing than Frisco’s 2023 general election, when the city’s official history shows turnout for mayor and two council seats was 16.51%. The city posted unofficial final election-night totals at 10:45 p.m. on May 2 after early voting ran from April 20 through April 28.

The race also marked the end of Mayor Jeff Cheney’s run at City Hall. Cheney, first elected in 2017, was term-limited and could not seek reelection, opening the seat for the first time since the 2023 mayoral election. Frisco’s election history shows runoff races are not unusual here, with municipal runoffs held in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2025.

Two council contests were settled outright. Laura Rummel won City Council Place 5 with 16,348 votes, or 66.18%, over Vijay Karthik and Sreekanth Reddy. Brittany Colberg won Place 6 with 13,838 votes, or 56.92%, ahead of Matt Chalmers, Sai Krishnarajanagar and Jerry Spencer. The runoff now becomes the last open contest in a Frisco election cycle that has already given voters one major decision and one more month of campaigning.