North Texas voters on May 12 will choose new mayors in at least three suburbs, decide school bond issues in at least seven districts and give thumbs up or down to sales tax and alcohol measures.

Farmers Branch voters, meanwhile, will vote on whether to forbid the leasing of apartments to illegal immigrants. And University Park voters will decide whether to let the city sell tiny Potomac Park to Southern Methodist University for an unspecified use.

Local ballots came into clearer focus Monday with the passing of the deadline for calling elections and filing for office.

The school bond elections will take place in the Grand Prairie, Mesquite, Lancaster, Rockwall, Sunnyvale, Forney and Red Oak districts.

Bonds are also on the ballots in Ellis County and the cities of Allen and Hickory Creek, while sales-tax propositions will go to voters in Grand Prairie and Argyle, and alcohol proposals are up in Bartonville and Ponder.

Here are highlights:

Dallas ISD: Each of the three school board incumbents seeking re-election will face a challenger.

Lew Blackburn, who hopes to keep the District 5 seat he's held for nearly six years, faces Virgie Grant-Brooks. The district includes downtown, East Oak Cliff, and parts of Oak Lawn and West Dallas.

In District 4, Nancy Bingham wants to retain the seat she won in 2004 that includes Seagoville and Southeast Dallas. Kenneth Green, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2004, is trying again.

Jerome Garza is running for the District 7 seat he's held since 2004. He faces Louis Tranquilino Trujillo, who also ran in 2004 for the seat that represents West Dallas and north central Oak Cliff.

DeSoto: Two candidates are running for mayor, a seat that incumbent Michael Hurtt is vacating because of term limits. The candidates are Bobby Waddle, who has served on the City Council since 2001, and Harold C. Willis.

Farmers Branch: Five candidates have filed for two open spots on the City Council, races that are expected to be heavily influenced by candidates' stances on the apartment rental ordinance.

Political newcomers Jose Galvez and Tim Scott and former council member Berry Grubbs filed for the Place 1 seat held by Charlie Bird, who will step down after 11 years. Tony Salerno and David Koch, also first-time candidates, are running for the Place 4 seat being vacated by Bill Moses, who has served since 1988.

Garland: Two-term mayor Bob Day will step down because of term limits. The three candidates to succeed him are Lee Alewine, former assistant city manager Ron Jones and Mike Rose, who served on the 2006 charter review board.

Irving ISD: There will be a three-way race for the Place 7 Irving school board seat being vacated by Ken Murray. Ronda Huffstetler, who held the seat from 1998 until she stepped down in 2004, is trying to regain it. Gloria Agyemang and Adrian Tyrone "A.D." Jenkins are also running. Also, Place 5 incumbent Nita Patrick faces Patricia Kilmer.

Richardson: The most crowded race is to replace longtime Place 5 council member Jim Shepherd. George McKearin, Sheryl Miller, Pris Hayes, William Gordon and Justin Ward will square off for the empty seat. Five other races are contested. Only Mayor Gary Slagel is not being challenged.

Rowlett: Shane Johnson resigned as mayor in January, and council members David Bryan and Becky Sebastian and political newcomer John Harper are seeking to replace him. Patrick Jackson and Randy Mays are seeking to fill Mr. Bryan's unexpired term, while Todd Gottel, Neal Jones and Dennis Hernandez are running for Ms. Sebastian's seat.

Allen: Phillip Jenkins and Robin Sedlacek are vying to replace City Council member Susie Bartlemay, who is not seeking re-election.

Frisco: Two council seats are up for grabs, and neither race features an incumbent. Jeff Cheney, Bart Crowder and Fred Pascarelli are facing off in Place 2, and Chris Moss, David Preston and David Prince are seeking Place 4 seat.

Lewisville: Five people will vie for the year left on the council term of Mike Nowels, who is stepping down. The hopefuls are Ron Aljoe; Patrick Booth, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2001; Jim Mundt; Leroy Vaughn Jr.; and Lathan Watts, who worked on the 2006 campaign of former state Rep. Kent Grusendorf.

Rockwall: The city will again have a three-way mayor's race that features an incumbent, a former mayor and a current council member. Bill Cecil is challenged by former Mayor Ken Jones, whom Mr. Cecil defeated in 2005, and council member Tim McCallum. Four are running to for the council seat Mr. McCallum is vacating: Phillip Herbst, Mary Hanrahan, David Sweet and Mike Mudgett.

Arlington: Mayor Robert Cluck is facing two challengers who have had experience running for office but no luck winning. Jerome Pikulinski challenged Dr. Cluck in 2005 and then unsuccessfully ran for a City Council seat last year. Carl Oehler has lost three Arlington school board races and in 2003 finished last in a four-candidate council race.

Fort Worth: Two-term Mayor Mike Moncrief is facing two challengers – Louis "Mac" McBee, a frequent critic of City Hall, and Charles Hibbler, who filed to run against council member Donavan Wheatfall in 2005 but dropped out of the race. Mr. McBee ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2005 and 2006.

Staff writers Richard Abshire, Karin Shaw Anderson, Brandon Formby, Kathy A. Goolsby, Tawnell D. Hobbs, Kristen Holland, Ed Housewright, Wendy Hundley, Jeff Mosier, Stephanie Sandoval and Katherine Leal Unmuth contributed to this report.