CARROLLTON, Texas—Officials say the mayor of this Dallas suburb has long told stories of her colorful background, including an engagement to Eagles drummer Don Henley and stints as a backup singer for Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller has also spoken of a brother who died in Vietnam and mentions on her campaign Web site that she attended Western Kentucky University.

However, her opponent in Saturday’s mayoral election is questioning all those claims.

And family members, school officials and spokesmen for the famous musicians contacted by The Dallas Morning News for a story in its Wednesday editions are saying none of the tales are true.

Miller says she never made some of the claims and attributed other discrepancies to dirty politics by challenger Ron Branson.

“I get angry when people get into my personal life,” Miller told the newspaper. “My personal life does not have a thing to do with my job as mayor or being elected on the City Council for 10 years.”

Branson, said Miller’s claims are false and reflect poorly on Carrollton, a suburb of about 116,000 just northwest of Dallas.

Branson said he is most upset by Miller’s claim that she had a brother who died in war. Miller’s father, Edward Sampson, told the newspaper that his son is alive but never served in the military.

Miller first suggested her 80-year-old father didn’t get his facts right and said he suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. She later said the man who died was not her biological brother but a “blood brother” was as close to her as a real one. She declined to give his name.

Three former Carrollton council members and one current member said Miller told them she was once engaged to Henley. Larry Solters, a spokesman for Henley and the Eagles, said the musician has “never heard of her, doesn’t know her, certainly was never engaged to her.”

In an e-mail to the newspaper, Miller wrote: “I have never said that I was engaged to Don Henley. I dated him.”

Spokesmen for Browne and Ronstadt said Miller never sang backup for them. Neither Miller’s first husband nor her father recalled a professional singing career.

Miller told the newspaper she went by several other names, though, including the nickname “Pinky.” She declined to say what those other names were.