CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Soon you will see incumbent Mayor Paulette Guajardo and current City Councilmember Michael Hunter back out campaigning as early voting in their runoff contest starts Monday.
"Early voting is Dec. 2 - 10, the Election Day is Dec. 14," Hunter said. "I humbly, humbly ask for your vote and it would be an honor to be your mayor."
"It’s about connection with people and it’s about reminding everyone that voting early matters and so I humbly ask for the people’s vote one more time,” Guajardo said.
During the general election on Nov. 5, Guajardo received 48 percent of the vote, not the 50 percent required to win. That’s why she’s in a runoff with Hunter who placed second.
On Wednesday, 3NEWS gave both a chance on this day to remind voters why they’re the right candidate to lead the city for the next two years.
"It’s about serving the people, it’s about moving our city forward, it’s about creating jobs," Guajardo said. "Bass Pros Shop, and I’m going to let the people know I’m going to be working in Costco. You have my word on that because jobs, jobs, jobs."
Hunter believes he can help diversify the economy and try and keep more young people from leaving Corpus Christi for jobs elsewhere. He told 3NEWS only about 14 percent of our graduates stay here in town.
"Everyone wants to talk about the potential of Corpus Christi but after enough people drink the Kool-Aid they stop thinking about the potential of Corpus Christi," he said. "The bar has been set so low on reaching that potential there are so many low-hanging fruits out there for us to achieve these goals."
3NEWS also asked each candidate about campaign financing.
The latest filings show Guajardo has brought in $213,000 dollars in contributions while Hunter has around $55,000. All for a position that pays well below minimum wage.
"It’s to serve our city, you know, being the peoples' mayor and I love that term because I have worked so hard these last years and it’s about serving the people," Guajardo said.
"We need money to win, you know, big races at the mayoral level if we don’t have funding it’s very difficult to compete," Hunter said.
He promised a blitz of campaign ads during early voting in his bid to become the city’s next mayor.
Guajardo said she will continue to work with her re-election team to remind everyone that early voting starts Monday and she’s the right candidate for the job.