An overcrowded group of candidates resulted in a runoff for the local election, including the mayor of Fort Worth and the special election for the US House race to replace Ron Wright, who died earlier this year.

Political science professor Jim Riddlesperger has been a go-to media source in the Wall Street Journal and other publications for his political expertise, and he’s there again ahead of the local run-off. Advance voting takes place until June 1 and polling day is June 5.

The Fort Worth mayor’s runoff will produce another victorious woman with the exit of Betsy Price after 10 years. Mattie Parker and Deborah Peoples will face each other. Riddlesperger said the dynamics in Fort Worth were changing.

“We are in a period of transition in Fort Worth,” he told the Texas Tribune. “Fort Worth was, until recently, a city with a Republican tendency. It was the largest Republican-leaning city in the country. And now twice in the last two elections, it has been reversed twice in important elections. ”

While the mayor and council elections in Fort Worth are non-partisan, Riddlesperger told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that voters’ attitudes could change.

“I think the polarization in the country as a whole and the nationalized politics in the 21st century have transformed things,” he said. “We are seeing partisan politics creeping into local politics that Fort Worth has avoided until recent years.”

These comments were echoed by Yahoo News and WOSF FM in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Riddlesperger told the Fort Worth report that campaigning in Fort Worth was difficult due to its burgeoning population.

“The truth is that they are going to do their best to bombard the whole city with communications and in particular with free communications,” he said.

Also on the ballot is the clearly partisan second round for the Texas US House race, which now takes place between two Republicans, Jake Ellzey and Susan Wright. That could leave many Democrats out of the second round, Riddlesperger said.

“Asking which of Trump’s candidates is better than the Democrats is a question that answers for itself,” he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Now they are faced with the challenge of standing out among Republicans.

He told the Fort Worth report that “the truth is that in terms of political preferences, there is not much that separates them. I can’t out of my head think of a problem where they are on different sides. ”