CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As election day has come and gone, most of the candidates now know whether they will be taking office or taking time to reassess where they go from here.
For others, however, the future is not yet as clear.
That’s the case for Corpus Christi Mayor and some City Council seats.
While yesterday’s election may have put those candidates one step closer to their goal, the process for them is far from over.
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Corpus Christi City Council will meet to canvass the vote and certify the results of the city election. If things remain as they are, the city will then declare a runoff election.
According to the City Charter, a candidate in any of the single-member council districts must get more than 50 percent of the vote. That happened in Districts 2, 3 and 5, where Sylvia Campos, Eric Cantu and Gil Hernandez were elected.
But it did not happen elsewhere, meaning the two highest vote-getters will move forward.
A runoff election will take place just over five weeks from now.
“The date is Dec. 14; that’s a Saturday,” Corpus Christi City Secretary Rebecca Huerta said. “We have not had a Saturday election for a runoff in the 10 years that I’ve been the City Secretary, so that’s a first for us.”
In this case, Mayor Paulette Guajardo and City Councilmember Michael Hunter will continue their race for Mayor.
Everett Roy will face Billy Lerma in District 1, and Kaylynn Paxson will go head-to-head with May Mendoza in District 4.
3NEWS spoke with Travis Braidwood, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M-Kingsville about what to expect in a runoff election.
“If you’re looking to have a really big influence on local politics, that’s the election to show up for, because those runoff elections have really, really low voter turnout,” Braidwood said. “Just a small number of people will have a disproportionate impact on choosing those candidates.”
The new City Council will be seated in January.
Of course, before any runoff election there will be a period of early voting. That will begin Dec. 2 and run through Dec. 10, with polling locations to be determined by the City Council.