In addition to Municipal Judge, Mayor and City Council Districts 2, 4, and 6, voters will also choose a new representative for City Council District 1. Current District 1 Councilman Victor Hernandez filed the paperwork to run for mayor on Wednesday.
“If they file for another office, it’s considered an automatic resignation if they have more a year left on their term,” Lubbock City Secretary Rebecca Garza said. “That’s actually what happened with councilman Hernandez, filed for mayor, and he’s got more than a year left, so it’s an automatic resignation.”
That means there will need to be a special election to fill Hernandez’s seat. Hernandez’s seat would have been up for election in 2018.
“They’re really going to fill an unexpired term, so it’s not going to be a four year term for them,” Garza said about the special election.
When asked if Hernandez would be able to sit on the council until the election, Garza said “Yes, it’s called a hold-over. However, the law says we have to have a special election to replace him within 120 days, so the Council, on January 28, will accept the resignation and call a special election.”
According to Jeff McKito, the public information officer for the City of Lubbock, a number of people filed paperwork on Wednesday.
For the office of mayor: Hernandez and Dan Pope.
For district 2: Sheila Patterson Harris.
For district 4: Jim Gerlt and Steve Massengale.
The filing dates for districts 2, 4, 6, mayor, and municipal judge goes from January 20 to February 19.
