April 7, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

Candidates for Flower Mound town council submitted their first campaign finance reports last week.

The Texas Ethics Commission sets the schedule for when reports are due and April 2 was the deadline for candidates in the May 2 election to file a form listing what they raised and spent from January 1 to March 23.

The reports can be an important indicator of who has support in the community and beyond. For local elections, money is mostly used for signs and mailers.

Of the four running for two spots on town council, one raked in 10 times more than anyone else and another failed to file her report.

Chris Drew, who is running unopposed for Place 2, raised $792.45 through one donation from planning and zoning commissioner Clare Harris. Drew spent no money.

Clare Harris, who is running for Place 5, raised $11,408.42. Her largest donation was $2,500 from Gerard Tobin, a resident of Flower Mound. Harris spent $8,436.43 and most of it went to yard signs and other forms of advertisement like a newspaper ad and fliers.

Ethan Mitchell, another running for Place 5, raised no money, but spent $201.73 on signs.

Susan Cox, a candidate for Place 5, had not filed a campaign finance report as of Monday, according to Town Secretary Traci Henderson. It is not known how much she has raised, but Cox was recently endorsed by the Denton County Republican Party, which comes with a $1,000 campaign donation, according to a statement from the party.