Coppell High School history teacher Joshua Chanin is always up for a challenge, and is taking on the challenge of running for office this spring.
On May 3, Chanin will be on the ballot for Lewisville City Council Place 4.
Chanin has been a resident of Lewisville for three years. Prior to his move, he lived in Coppell, graduating from New Tech High @ Coppell in the class of 2012. By running for city council, Chanin seeks to be more deeply involved in his local community.
“I’ve always been interested in politics and I usually watch Coppell and Lewisville City Council meetings and C-SPAN congressional speeches in my free time,” Chanin said. “I love getting involved in my community and I’ve done that in various ways as a resident of Lewisville, and thought it was time to step up, run for city council and see where it goes.”
Chanin is running against Lonnie Tipton and Carlos Andino Jr. for the seat, as incumbent council member Brandon Jones is not seeking another term. Chanin’s message centers around a brighter future for Lewisville.
“I am putting myself out there as the only candidate that has extensive city knowledge and plays an active role in city politics,” Chanin said. “I’ve been on the Lewisville centennial celebrations committee and had the opportunity to plan events that the city is doing, so I’ve gotten to know a lot of the city staff. I’m that candidate who will bring stability to the council.”
One of Chanin’s business goals for Lewisville is to revamp The Vista, formerly Music City Mall.
“I remember going to Vista Ridge Mall at the end of its heyday when I was in high school,” Chanin said. “Then, it was still thriving, there were still people walking around, and right now it’s dead. I really want to revitalize that more and generate more economic activity in that area.”
Chanin has been using various methods to spread his campaign and prepare for the election.
“I’ve had to make yard signs, and I’ve been knocking on doors,” Chanin said. “I’m currently making my campaign flyers, and I’m preparing for some candidate forums and debates that I’m going to do in April.”
The campaign process is crucial to garner support for early voting. Coppell City Council member Kevin Nevels has a similar background to Chanin as he graduated from Coppell High School in 2001.
“People like a hometown story,” Nevels said. “I graduated from CHS, my wife went to CHS and we met at CHS. We have our business here and our kids go to school in Coppell ISD, so a lot of people saw that we were invested in the community.”
Running for city council in his hometown, Nevels showed voters he is invested in his community. Chanin hopes to display the same involvement in Lewisville, despite his short time in the area.
“I persuaded my wife to move to Lewisville because of what Lewisville has to offer,” Chanin said. “I haven’t been in Lewisville for a long time, but I intend to stay in Lewisville for maybe the remainder of my life because I hope to raise my family here.”
Chanin intends to keep his full-time job at CHS if elected for city council, as he has made a positive impact on the AP U.S History program.
“He’s grown the program from what it was to 10 to 20 sections of it,” history department head Michael Erickson said. “He has relationships with everybody in the department and he’s a key piece as people go to him and know that he’s somebody they can go to for anything.”
Chanin approaches balancing the workload the same way he does every challenge.
“I don’t like to procrastinate at work or at life in general,” he said. “I’m going to treat both positions as a teacher here and as a council member if I’m elected in Lewisville with extreme precision and a lot of effort.”
His election campaign is a way that Chanin is exercising his First Amendment rights, and encourages others to do the same.
“I encourage students in my class to get out there and vote when they are of age,” Chanin said. “If they don’t like the current state of politics, they can go out there and exercise their First Amendment rights, and if they want to, they can go out there and run for political office themselves. Making that first step in running for political office is probably the most difficult step of the process, but once you have made it and you are committed, people will see that.”
This story was originally published on Coppell Student Media on March 13, 2025.