Waco City Council District 4 voters re-elect Darius Ewing

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - District 4 voters returned Darius Ewing to the Waco City Council seat he was appointed to three years ago in a decisive victory over two opponents.

Ewing, 28, a growth operations manager for an insurance company, beat real estate agent Anthony Johnson and computer network technician Don Gray to reclaim the District 4 seat.

Ewing received 337 votes for 62 percent of the vote, outdistancing Johnson, who got 164 votes, and Gray, who received 30 votes.

Council members appointed Ewing to the District 4 seat in June 2020 before he lost to Kelly Palmer in November 2020. He said he learned valuable lessons in his time on the council and in his defeat to Palmer.

“I feel that was a big strength of mine,” he said. “I will be able to hit the ground running and I kept in contact with city staff and the council members. So I think that will allow us to start implementing change and taking advantage of the opportunities we have right away.”

Ewing thanked his volunteers and those who voted for him.

“Every week since March 22, we have been out knocking on doors, and I am really excited about making good on the conversations we had with constituents while we were canvassing the neighborhoods over the last six weeks,” he said.

Ewing said his top priority is to improve access to public transportation and to make sure Waco citizens have a full understanding about the city’s plan to improve city streets within the next five to seven years. He also campaigned on improving opportunities for job training and ensuring affordable housing stock.

Ewing said he was disappointed by the customary low turnout in the city and school elections, but said knowing that made him work harder to earn every vote. He said he also thinks the 2020 election year caused voter fatigue among much of the electorate.

He praised Johnson and Gray for the campaigns they waged.

Johnson, 42, has been active in the business community and at his church and ran to improve the city infrastructure, roads, sidewalks and to beef up the Waco Police Department, which he said is down 40 officers.

Gray, 49, a Libertarian Party member, ran on helping to rectify “food insecurity” through the development of community gardens.

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