A brief history of Flower Mound elections, since 1996

To borrow an opener from Dallas sportswriting legend Blackie Sherrod ...

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Rick Randall.

This will be my 10th year of voting in a Flower Mound council/mayor election. To celebrate this meritorius achievement in citizenship (do I get a ribbon?), here for our readers is a recap of the past 10 years of Flower Mound elections. There are some wild stories to be told from the past decade of elections -- not all those stories are suitable for a family audience.

These recollections were assembled from memory, from old clippings at home and from some good old-fashioned online research. If I've missed an interesting detail or gotten something wrong, please e-mail me.

So here we go with the countdown. Old-timers, have fun recounting some of these names from the past. Newcomers, here's what you missed.

1996 -- Long-time mayor Larry Lipscomb runs for what would be his final term and defeats local activist Marsha Casteen. Bob Peffer is re-elected to Place 2, beating Janna Cott. Pat Moore wins a 4th term in Place 4, over Kim Cone and Scott Meister. This was a very active election, but no one in 1996 could foresee the storm that would blow in the following year.

1997 -- In the past few months, Voters United to Preserve Flower Mound has emerged as a political force in Flower Mound, and the fledgling group pulls off a stunning sweep of three council seats in this non-mayoral election year. Even though the three rookie candidates weren't technically VU candidates, the endorsements from VU gave them legitimacy and propelled them into office. Ted Reeves, Rick Randall and Bill Carr beat Wayne Wilkerson, Chris Miles and Steve Mossman.

1998 -- By now, Lori DeLuca had become the single most-influential force in Flower Mound politics -- a kingmaker if you will. She runs for mayor against councilwoman Moore and handily wins, but no longer is it considered an upset. VU candidate Tom Cawthon beats Steve Mossman, who runs for another seat a year after being bounced by Bill Carr. (Mossman is now your elected Tax Assessor-Collector, by the way, so he's fared OK.) VU candidate Cindy Travis defeats Tom Thompson in the race to fill the seat vacated by mayor-candidate Moore. In a special election, VU's Ted Baze beats Travis Perkins to win Place 3, to fill a seat forfeited by Rick Randall, convicted of a misdemeanor domestic assault. Voters United now has ownership of all 5 council seats and the mayor's seat too. This bloc would stay firm for 6 years.

1999 -- Voters United v2.0. Reeves chooses not to run again, after losing favor with VU over a council vote. VU's Stephanie Spruill beats YMCA director Kim Phillips for that seat. Baze wins re-election to a full-term. Carr has moved away. VU-backed Sara Wingard is appointed to his seat in 1998, and beats challenger Angie Cox.

2000 -- Mayor Deluca faces Bob Weir, now editor of The News Connection. Jim Cook wins election to Cawthon-vacated Place 2, beats Joe Freeman. Cindy Travis wins over Paul "Citizen" Stone. Easy wins for VU candidates.

2001 -- The big yawn, as once again all 3 VU incumbents are re-elected. Baze beats Roger Whitney. Wingard beats Chrissy Long. Both margins are 2-1. Spruill runs unopposed.

2002 -- Craig Bradshaw (Terry's little brother) announces his mayoral bid months before the election, and raises a record sum for his candidacy. But despite all sorts of interesting and dubious political manuevers over several months (on both sides), the outcome was not in question on election day, as DeLuca easily won a third term. Cook runs again, beats Darrin Patterson. Travis is re-elected easily over Jason Lewis and Renee Stoltenberg. The Voters United machine appears invincible, even against an organized and well-financed opposition.

2003 -- The first big chink in VU's armor comes from within. Jim Cook is still on the council, but now opposes VU. Sara Wingard runs for re-election in Place 5, but no longer with VU support, which has switched to Sydney Bentz. Bentz wins, showing the VU-endorsement still carries weight, even over a VU incumbent. Tim Trotter runs over former P/Z commissioner Chris Torley. Spruill beats Carr, who has returned to town.

2004 -- The big fall. Mayor DeLuca's year-long fight with laryngitis has kept her speechless for about a year. She and Spruill hatch a plan to switch seats, in order to keep VU continuity on the council and in the mayor's seat. Spruill runs for mayor against long-time citizen but first-time candidate Jody Smith. DeLuca runs for the Place 4 seat that Cindy Travis is departing. DeLuca's opponents are Bill Carr and Laurie Long, a newcomer who has had a months-long public spat with the mayor and council over how Long's remarks at a previous council meeting were recorded in the minutes. Citizen Paul Stone makes a second run for a council seat, against VU-endorsed Michael Walker.

Before Election Day, news reports emerge that Spruill had a rather-minor blot in her criminal record two decades before. She was perfectly legal to run and hold office, but this revelation, along with growing opposition and distrust over the DeLuca-Spruill seat switch, spelled doom for all the VU candidates. Smith pounded Spruill on election day. Stone beat Walker, a nice and smart guy who happened to be on the VU ballot one year too late. Long forced DeLuca into a runoff that Long would eventually win. A few weeks later, the new mayor and council select Joel Lindsey to fill Spruill's Place 1 seat that she vacated to run for mayor.

2005 -- The new election landscape, and minus Voters United. Joel Lindsey wins his first election to the seat he was appointed to a year before, beating Robin Hyman. Tim Trotter wins re-election handily over J. Hand (who is now your Justice of the Peace). Jeff Tasker wins Place 5 over second-time candidate Michael Walker, who this year tried to distance himself from Voters United. VU is virtually silent, relagated to an outsider's role in the process.

2006 -- This much we know. Laurie Long and Paul Stone are unopposed, and they'll earn another two years on the council. Only Mayor Smith draws an opponent, former Town economic development director Jim Lang. Just two candidates, with no apparent blocs, no evidence of influence from PACs like Voters United.

Footnote: After I had done the bulk of my research and my writing for this post, I happened upon Voters United's website and in particular, their written history of Town politics since they became an active part of it. Though this page is purely partisan, I am indebted to their factual recounts of the various elections through the years. It helped me find a few errors in my own memory and my research.