April 28, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

In the latest campaign finance reports filed by candidates for Flower Mound town council, one candidate raked in thousands of dollars and another showed close ties to statewide elected officials.

Early voting continues through Tuesday and Election Day is on Saturday. Flower Mound has 58,195 registered voters. 2,525 have voted early through Monday, according to Denton County Elections.

The campaign finance reports were due on Friday and detailed money that went in and out of campaign coffers from March 24 to April 22. The report is required by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Council member Chris Drew is running unopposed for Place 2. He had no political contributions or expenditures listed on his report.

Place 5 is currently held by mayor pro tem Ann Martin, who cannot run for another term. Susan Cox, Clare Harris, and Ethan Mitchell are on the ballot for her spot.

Mitchell, a data analyst, did not report any contributions. He had one expenditure – from personal funds – of $263.50 for printing expenses.

Harris, who currently serves on the planning and zoning commission, received $8,449.00 in political contributions. Her largest contribution was $3,000 from Don Hanvey, an oilman with a post office box in Roanoke. She also received $1,500 from Jeffrey York of Flower Mound. York donated $10,000 to council member Chris Drew’s campaign in 2023.

Harris has earned the endorsement of Drew, as well as deputy mayor pro tem Adam Schiestel and council member Janvier Werner.

Harris reported a non-monetary political contribution from Murray Media Group worth $1,599. Murray Media Group publishes Town Life, Argyle Living, and Lantana Living. An article written by Harris about plants that attract butterflies appeared in the April 17-May 15 issue of those three publications. It did not have any campaign information and identified Harris as a Denton County Master Gardener, not a candidate.

Harris reported spending $5,791.27 and most of it was used for printing signs, a newspaper advertisement, and postage.

Cox, a business owner, reported $3,155 in contributions, including $1,000 from the Denton County Republican Party, who endorsed her. Cox’s largest contributor on this report was Stuart Robinson, of Dallas, who gave $2,000. Cox reported a pledged contribution of $2,500 from Texas Association of REALTORS Political Action Committee (TREPAC) on April 10.

Cox spent $16,136.48 in this reporting period. She reported paying $3,157.00 to Griffin Communications for text messaging. Griffin Communications, an Austin-based firm, has appeared on several campaign finance reports filed by Flower Mound area candidates in recent years. When Mindy Bumgarner was running for Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees in 2023, she paid Griffin Communications  $27,983.07 for consulting. State Rep. Ben Bumgarner, who has endorsed Cox, reported in January that he paid Griffin Communications $1,545.20 for design and placement of his digital campaign ads.

Cox paid $1,037 to Red Bonnet Consulting LLC for Facebook ads. Red Bonnet Consulting LLC is registered to Kalon Melton, Rep. Bumgarner’s district director and deputy chief of staff.

Rep. Bumgarner isn’t the only statewide elected official to put his name and influence behind Cox.

State Rep. Mitch Little, who has also endorsed Cox, sent a text message to residents on Monday encouraging them to vote for her. The message was paid for by Mitch Little for Texas.