Lubbock's general and special municipal elections on Saturday, May 4, will see many shake-ups, unopposed replacements, and a proposition to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.
This year's elections have already proven to be unique.
Early voting alone in Lubbock County this year saw the highest turnout for a municipal May election—early voting and election day turnout combined—since at least 2006, with 26,103 early voters between April 22 and April 30.
The "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance vote in 2021 gathered around 34,000 voters, and 2009's vote to legalize packaged alcohol sales in city limits picked up the most with almost 51,000 voters, for the highest city voter turnouts in general May elections of the last 25 years.
Voting will take place Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at voting locations across the city.
Under Texas law, voters must present one of the seven acceptable forms of photo ID at the polls when voting in person:
- Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
- Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
- United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
- United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States Passport (book or card)
Voting with special needs
For voters with special needs, tell the election official if you are a voter who needs help to vote. You do not have to provide proof of your disability. A person of your choice or an election worker can assist you at the polls but the person cannot be your employer or someone who represents your employer, or an officer or representative of your union.
If you're physically unable to enter the polling place, you can ask for an election officer to bring a ballot to the entrance of the polling place or to a car parked at the curbside. After marking the ballot, give it to the election officer, who will put it in the ballot box, or a companion can hand you a ballot and deposit it.
See more details on voting with special needs here.
Municipal
In Lubbock, four city council member positions will change.
After serving eight and twelve years on the city council respectively, District 2's Sheila Patterson-Harris and District 6's LaTrelle Joy won't be on the ballot again in 2024. District 3's Mark McBrayer and District 4's Steve Massengale are running in the mayor's race, leaving their seats open.
District 3's David Glasheen ran unopposed in the special election to fill McBrayer's remaining term, so Glasheen is "Declared Elected." District 4's Brayden Rose and District 6's Tim Collins are also unopposed.
District 2, however, remains a three-way race between Michael Lestus Mitchell, Gordon Harris and Anah Menjares.
Meanwhile, four other candidates are on the ballot running to be Lubbock’s mayor.
Stephen J. Sanders is in his third run for mayor, gaining 44% of the vote in a two-way race with Dan Pope in 2020, earning about 44% of the vote. Sanders lost with 9% of the vote when he ran again in 2022, in a race with five candidates.
Activist and communications chair for Lubbock Compact Adam Hernandez also ran in May 2022 and picked up almost 19% of the vote but came in second to Mayor Tray Payne, who chose not to run for reelection this year after one term.
Little is known about Kolton Bacon, however, he did answer questions at the Lubbock Professional Firefighter's Association mayoral candidates forum.
Antonio "Tony" Renteria is the founder and CEO of Latinos United for Conservative Action who announced his campaign for mayor in February.
See below for the full video from Texas Tech Public Media's mayoral candidate forum at Mahon Library on April 14, where Adam Hernandez, Steve Massengale, Mark McBrayer and Stephen Sanders answered questions on current topics and submitted questions from voters in the audience. Antonio Renteria and Kolton Bacon did not attend the forum.
Jorge Hernandez, who assumed the position as Lubbock's municipal judge in 2017, ran unopposed for reelection this year.
Schools
District 2's Lubbock ISD School Board Trustee race is between LaCarl Richardson and longtime educator Mary Ann Lawson. Former Lubbock ISD administrator Nancy Sharp was declared elected for Lubbock ISD School Board's Trustee At-Large position after running unopposed.
Frenship ISD Trustee, Place 6 is a race between L. Witherspoon Sr. and Jamey Phillips, a board member since 2015. While Frenship ISD Trustee for Place 5 and Board Member since May 2006, current Board Vice President David R. Miller, and Shawn Michael Vinson in Frenship ISD's Trustee Place 7 were both declared elected after running unopposed.
Proposition A
A very contentious topic on the ballot for the whole city of Lubbock is Proposition A, the ordinance that would effectively decriminalize possession of misdemeanor amounts of marijuana in Lubbock, instructing Lubbock police to stop arresting adults for carrying less than 4oz of marijuana.
You can find previous coverage on Prop A from the KTTZ newsroom below:
Sample ballots and election locations
On May 2, the Lubbock County Elections Office updated details on two previous polling locations for Saturday’s special and municipal elections:
Matthews Academy High School, located in the 400 block of North Akron Avenue in North Lubbock, will be closed due to HVAC issues.
Calvary Baptist Church on 82nd Street in South Lubbock will also not be a polling location for Saturday’s elections due to other activities on that day.
According to Citibus, free rides will be provided all day on election day to ensure that transportation is not a barrier for Lubbockites to get out and vote.
Find sample ballots based on your district in Lubbock here:
If you’re a Lubbock County voter and you want to find election information specific to your address, visit votelubbock.org.
Voting will take place from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
See a full list of Saturday's Lubbock County voting locations from the Elections Office here:
Copyright 2024 KTTZ