KINGSVILLE, Tx — Candidate filing for the upcoming May election for the City of Kingsville is now open. Mayor and commissioner seats are up for grabs, but there are some changes.
What was once two-year terms is now four-year terms for mayor and city seats with Proposition A in 2020, which is a charter amendment. This is the second time for four-year terms, but the first time that commissioners will run for places within the four-year term.
Lifelong Kingsville resident Rolando Velasquez said this change makes sense, similar to other popular elections.
“Everybody chooses them every year so why would they change in two years? It’s no difference. You got to elect the president every four years, now this is the same just in a different month,” Velasquez said.
In previous elections, candidates running would run at-large, which meant candidates with the most votes would win a seat in commissioners court. However, with the term change, candidates will now run by place.
Each seat is a place and within each place candidates will face off. This change was made with Proposition B in the 2023 charter amendment voted on by Kingsville voters in November.
Candidates have always been required and will continue to live within city limits to run. Voters will see all candidates and all places on their ballot.
Multiple residents shared with KRIS 6 News that they were on board with the idea of candidates running for place as long as they lived within the city.
“I don’t mind if they live in different parts of the city. Some people might like voting in a different part of the city but they can’t because they’re restricted. So I don’t mind if they mix it up,” resident Mary Pierce said.
Velasquez added that the change fits with the size of the city.
“Corpus has 300,000 people or more and Kingsville has around 25 to 26,000,” Velasquez said.
If more than two people run for the same seat, the winner needs 50% plus one vote to claim the seat. This makes it more likely for there to be a runoff election.
“In the county that’s what happens. We have runoff elections and it works. You separate the weak from the shaft and you get what you need,” retired county attorney Pete De La Garza said.
But for that to happen, De La Garza said people need to go out and vote.
“It’s a right that we have and a right that we have to exercise. It is so important to vote because if they don’t vote they should not have a say so,” De La Garza said.
Candidate filing runs until Feb. 16. Elections will take place in May with any runoff elections happening on June 15.
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