The race for Dallas’ mayor has taken on a national presence as former Mayor Tom Leppert stepped down from office four months early last week and recently announced his intention to run for U.S. Senate.

Leppert is now the fifth person to announce their candidacy for the seat that will soon be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. The other four include current Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Solicitor General Ted Cruz, former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams and former Secretary of State Roger Williams. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is also contemplating joining the race. If he did so, he would most likely windup the favorite.

In a recently released YouTube video called, “Why I’m Running,” Leppert called himself a “true Texas conservative,” who plans to take on overspending, over taxing and overregulation issues.

He may also take on a social conservative roll. After the Obama Administration announced that it would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Leppert tweeted his disagreement, saying, “Another mistake from Obama on DOMA. We need leaders in Washington to stand for the principle of marriage between one man and one woman.”

Three major candidates have now thrown themselves in the ring to replace Leppert as Dallas’ mayor, and they faced off in their first debate on Thursday at Methodist Hospital’s Hitt Auditorium in Oak Cliff.

The debate began with only David Kunkle, the former police chief, and Mike Rawlings, the current Dallas Park Board president and former homeless czar. Ron Natinsky, a current city council member, walked in about halfway through the hour-long debate saying he was held back at another event.

Kunkle hoped to set himself apart from the other two candidates early on, saying that the new Dallas mayor should not be chosen by the wealthy few, alluding to Natinsky’s popularity with North Dallas businessmen and Mike Rawling’s similar situation as the former Pizza Hut Chief.

He said that Dallas’ current situation called for “a different mayor with a different type of background,” and that it is “not the time for a CEO to be mayor but someone who understands city government.”

Rawlings responded by saying that he had a “heart for the city” and that his business background gave him the ability to spur development in the city. Natinsky pushed his small business background as a way to relate to those in the audience.

All agreed that even though Dallas is facing difficult financial times, they would not be in favor of raising property taxes.