Voters in the fast-growing city of Princeton elected a new mayor who said the city isn鈥檛 managing the population growth responsibly. He joins a cohort of challengers who ousted city elected officials in recent elections.
Eugene Escobar Jr. defeated Mayor Brianna Chac贸n with about 56% of the vote according to Less than 1,200 of the 16,895 voters in the city participated in the runoff election.
The election went to a runoff after Chac贸n received 41% of the vote in her recent bid for reelection, less than the required 51% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff. Escobar was one of four candidates that filed to run against Chac贸n in the city鈥檚 mayoral election.
"I felt like that the city was more focused on growing and more focused on bringing in developers and bringing homes into rooftops, that they didn't really understand what that comes with,鈥� he said.
Chac贸n is the third incumbent city official in Princeton to lose her seat. Council Member Terrance Johnson defeated David Kleiber in the November election with about 54% of the vote after Kleiber joked about shooting liberals in a Facebook comment. And former Council Member Marlo Obera lost his seat to Christina Todd, who received about 52% of the vote in November.
Johnson said voters want change and better management of the city's growth. Princeton is the third-fastest-growing city in the nation according to the U.S. Census.
鈥淭hat statement has an asterisk on it, right?鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause we are overly populated, but we don't have the infrastructure to support that.鈥�
Princeton issued a temporary moratorium on new housing developments to help slow the effects of growth. Chac贸n told the Texas Standard when the moratorium was issued the goal was to give city officials time to ensure the city鈥檚 resources were prepped to handle the growth.
鈥淲e do need to take a pause, take a breather to make sure that we do have the infrastructure in place, that we do have the public safety services in place 鈥� that way we can better serve all of our residents,鈥� she said.
The moratorium, which is scheduled to last 120 days, only applies to new residential developments, not commercial developments. A local Walmart is the city鈥檚 only grocery store. According to on the city鈥檚 Facebook page from March, Aldi and Market Street are expected to open locations in Princeton in 2026.
Escobar said Princeton has become a stop-over town. But the new mayor said he wants to change that.
鈥淲e're trying to figure out what we can do to make Princeton a place where people want to live long term,鈥� he said.
Escobar said there鈥檚 a lot of work for the council to do regarding the city鈥檚 massive population boom. But he said there鈥檚 an opportunity to turn things around.
鈥淲e have a lot of issues right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e still young. We still have a lot of space to grow.鈥�
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