Candidates set for Municipal Elections, Five Contested Races

by Eric

February 15th, 2019 at 5:00 PM was the ending of filing for candidacy for the local election coming up on May 4th, 2019. The list filled up quickly on the last few days of filing and now there are five contested races for municipal elections in Terry County.

In the unopposed races, there were three open seats for the Brownfield ISD Board of Trustees which include District 1, 2, & 3. Currently, those positions are held by in order Yvonne Rocha, Randy Anthony, and Board President, Tony Serbantez. Both Rocha and Anthony have filed for another term and Cody Churchwell filed for District 3, in which Tony Serbantez will not seek another term.

There were two City of Brownfield Council Member At-Large openings, which currently includes Chuck Nave and Leon Pope. Councilman Pope will have to come off because of term limits, however, Incumbent Nave re-filed for the same position and former Mayor Tom Hesse filed for the other At-Large seat. With only two openings and two candidates, there will not be an election for the City of Brownfield At-Large seats.

In the City of Meadow, there are three open spots for Council Member At-Large. Those seats are currently filled by Everett McArthur, Mariana Moya, and Kandace Welch. Only two filed for the three open positions and they Incumbents McArthur and Welch. The Meadow City Council will have to appoint the third At-Large seat.

The City of Wellman will not have a contested race either. The mayor position, council member place 2, and council member place 4. Current Mayor Todd Ellis filed for another term, Sally Rodriguez filed for Place 2, and Seth Hollowell filed for Place 4.

In the contested campaigns, Brownfield Regional Medical Center has three opening for Directors-At-Large. Those are currently held by Sue Cottrell, Board president, Justin Hesse, and Richard Van Der Vlist. Those three incumbents refiled for another term and Phillip Gore, Bobby Lawrence, and Taryn Simental also filed to make this a six-person contested campaign.

Both City of Brownfield Council Member District 4 and District 5 are contested races. In District 4, the incumbent Tresa Sparks refiled for another term and she will be opposed by Michelle Cooper. In District 5, current seat holder Ray McFarland has to step off the Council because of term limits leaving it open for a non-incumbent. Isaiah Bautista and Eric Horton will vie for District 5.

Meadow ISD only needed two Trustees At-Large and there are five vying for the two spots. Those are Danny Castaneda, Christopher Castilleja, Scott Caswell, Keith Harrison, and J’Bob Jowers.

Wellman-Union CISD has three Trustees At-Large openings which are currently held by Bobby Brown, Michael Franke, and Ed “Eddie” Rodriguez, which all three incumbents refiled for another term with two more others opposing as well and they are Ryan Dill and Aaron Martin.

Also on the May 4th ballot, the citizens of Wellman will vote on a City Sales Tax increase and Brownfield ISD has called for a $40 million bond to be placed on the ballot.

There will be more to come on when early voting begins and interviews with the candidates. Here is the full list of those running opposed and unopposed and they are listed by entity and the date that the candidate filed.

Candidate Entity Position Date Filed
Randy Anthony BISD Trustee – District 2 2/8/2019
Cody Churchwell BISD Trustee – District 3 2/11/2019
Yvonne Rocha BISD Trustee – District 1 2/13/2019
Sue Cottrell BRMC Director 1/17/2019
Richard VanDerVlist BRMC Director 1/25/2019
Phillip Gore BRMC Director 2/7/2019
Taryn Simental BRMC Director 2/13/2019
Justin Hesse BRMC Director 2/14/2019
Bobby Lawrence BRMC Director 2/15/2019
Tresa Sparks City of Brownfield Council Member – Dist. 4 1/25/2019
Michelle Cooper City of Brownfield Council Member – Dist. 4 2/15/2019
Eric Horton City of Brownfield Council Member – Dist. 5 1/22/2019
Isaiah Bautista City of Brownfield Council Member – Dist. 5 2/11/2019
Tom Hesse City of Brownfield Council Member At Large 1/17/2019
Chuck Nave City of Brownfield Council Member At Large 2/1/2019
Everett McArthur City of Meadow Council Member – At Large 2/12/2019
Kandace Keesee Welch City of Meadow Council Member At Large 2/15/2019
Seth Hollowell City of Wellman Council Member Place 4 1/17/2019
Todd Ellis City of Wellman Mayor 1/24/2019
Sally Rodriguez City of Wellman Council Member Place 2 2/1/2019
J’Bob Jowers MISD School Trustee 1/22/2019
Keith Harrison MISD School Trustee 2/12/2019
Scott Caswell MISD School Trustee 2/15/2019
Christopher Castilleja MISD School Trustee 2/15/2019
Danny Castaneda MISD School Trustee 2/15/2019
Ryan Dill Wellman Union CISD School Trustee 1/23/2019
Ed Rodriguez Wellman Union CISD School Trustee 1/25/2019
Bobby Brown Wellman Union CISD School Trustee 1/25/2019
Aaron Martin Wellman Union CISD School Trustee 1/31/2019
Michael Franke Wellman Union CISD School Trustee 2/1/2019

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