Extension sought to file for election
Most cities in Texas — from Galveston to Lubbock — moved their May elections to November under a pandemic-era decree by Gov. Greg Abbott.
But the choices facing voters will remain limited to candidates who filed for office months ago — at least for now.
State Rep. Mayes Middleton,
a Galveston County Republican, wants to reopen the filing period for candidates to lead cities and other political jurisdictions, including school boards. He believes voters may have soured on incumbents facing little or no competition.
Middleton is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton whether the state should give candidates who want to run in a postponed local election until mid-August to file for a spot on the ballot.
“I think it’s also only fair that this occur because there are a lot of people that have been frankly unhappy with how some of the decisions… have been made in local government during this pandemic,” Middleton said.
The legal rub: Abbott’s March 18 order was silent on the filing deadline. But Abbott’s secretary of state, Ruth Hughs, wrote local officials that “the postponement does not have the effect of reopening candidate filings.”
Middleton believes that guidance is not supported by election law and Abbott’s order. Middleton, who chairs the arch-conservative Texas Freedom Caucus, contends in his July 2 letter to Paxton that Texas law clearly states that if the election day is changed or moved, the filing period rolls forward with it.
He said the ripple effects of a legal opinion by Paxton go well beyond proving greater scrutiny for elected officials who have issued shutdown orders or mask requirements, which have drawn the ire of many conservatives. Some local officials believe that tax rates adopted by cities for the coming fiscal year could greatly exceed what voters have the appetite for amid curtailed local tax revenues due to the pandemic.
‘Mass chaos’ concerns
Under the Texas Election Code, the filing period for a November election closes 78 days prior to that date. Middleton believes this means candidates should be able to file to get on the ballot for local elections up until Aug. 17.
“The Secretary of State’s office told me that they believe there would be some election administrators and county clerks and city clerks that would just approve applications” to be on the ballot, Middleton said.
The Texas Municipal League , which represents the interests of cities, said the overwhelming majority of the 1,210 cities in the state hold May elections. And the league’s executive director, Bennett Sandlin, said he knew of no cities with May elections this year that did not either cancel or move them.
In the Houston area, Richmond, Pearland, Sugar Land, Galveston, and Friendswood are among the cities that have postponed local elections until Nov. 3.
Cities with no contested races were allowed to cancel their elections, Sandlin said. In addition, many candidates with no opponents have already been sworn in. So the league is arguing that allowing candidates back on the ballot could create “mass chaos” in local elections that have already been entirely or partially canceled.
The city of Round Rock, just north of Austin, actually moved its election to May of next year – meaning the incumbents will all get an extra year in office without voter approval.
Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said the move smacked of political opportunism, noting that it was a de facto extension of the terms of incumbents who normally would have to leave office.
“Any movement beyond November would seem to me taking advantage, undue advantage, of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s both unethical as well as at least (a violation of ) the spirit of the law in what Gov. Abbott was trying to do,” Jones said.
Jones also said that holding May elections — as opposed to in November, when a presidential election will draw far higher turnout — is “more likely to benefit the existing officeholders.”
Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan, who is unopposed, said the city wanted to hold its elections this past May but was unable to because Williamson and Travis Counties canceled plans to hold the election after Abbott’s decree. The city tried to get Abbott to approve an August election but never got a written response from his office, Morgan said.
He said it would be unfair to the current candidates to reopen the candidate filing period and that people who want to run for city office will be able to throw their hat in the ring for at least two council seats that will be on the ballot next May. Morgan also noted that Abbott’s order already extended their terms by six months regardless.
“I know there’s some concern that people are getting an extra year of power,” the mayor said. “That’s just not an accurate statement.”
Curbing tax collections
Cheryl Johnson, the Galveston County tax assessor and a Republican, wrote Paxton in support of Middleton’s position. She said the pandemic has “opened the eyes” of Texans to potential government overreach, namely local tax rates that could soar as cities try to bridge budget shortfalls. Johnson wants officials considering tax hikes to feel the pressure of a campaign challenge.
Johnson noted that Senate Bill 2, signed into law by Abbott during the 2019 legislative session, requires cities to receive voter approval before levying taxes that would result in collections 3.5 percent higher than the previous year. But the bill contains a disaster provision that permits a city to collect more than twice as much for at least two years if any part of the city is declared a disaster area during the current tax year.
State and local officials are at odds over whether the coronavirus pandemic qualifies as a “disaster” to trigger this provision.
“I’m of the opinion that COVID-19 is not the type of disaster that would warrant the disaster provision of Senate Bill 2,” she said.
The Texas Municipal League says it conducted a survey of cities recently and found the “vast majority” plan to keep increased collections below the 3.5 percent threshold allowed by Senate Bill 2.
Johnson would like to see May local elections eliminated altogether in favor of a uniform November election for local, statewide, and federal races. Voters often pay little attention to issues that pop up on a May ballot, she said, which leads to low turnout and complacency among incumbent elected officials who don’t fear a challenge.
“This would also hopefully cause some of those districts to think twice about what they’re putting on that ballot, because they could not only face losing a ballot proposition, but they could also face an opponent,” she said.