Elections taking shape in Mid-County, Port Arthur
Published 12:30 am Thursday, August 6, 2020
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Voters will be busy with municipal and school board elections in the coming months.
Some, like the city of Port Arthur, Port Arthur Independent School District and Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7 pushed back their May elections due to COVID-19 and those elections will now be held Nov. 3.
Qualifying for these elections is complete.
Others like Groves, Port Neches and Port Neches-Groves Independent School District typically hold their elections in November. Filing for seats for those entities are underway.
Those elections are also scheduled for Nov. 3.
Here’s a look:
Port Arthur city
- District 1: Ingrid West Holmes, Willie “Bae” Lewis and Mike Mason
- District 2: incumbent Cal Jones and Armando Ruiz
- District 3: incumbent Thomas Kinlaw III, Captain, U.S. Army (ret.), Morris Albright III, and Charlie Lewis Jr.
- District 4: Kenneth Wayne Marks, Greg K. Richard and Jonathan Sanchez.
- Position 7 incumbent councilmember Charlotte Marie Moses, Rashad A. Harris and Yadi Cardenas.
- Position 8: Tieranny S. DeCuir, Raymond Scott Jr., Rosendo Ochoa Jr., Donald R. Frank and John Roy LeBlanc.
- The city also has a special election with a number of propositions.
Port Arthur ISD
PAISD has three candidates vying for two spots on the board of trustees: incumbents Dianne Brown and Kenneth W. Lofton Sr. are joined by Joseph Guillory II, who previously held a seat on the board.
The top two vote getters earn the seats.
Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7
- Four candidates are vying for a commissioner’s seat representing Port Neches. They include Matt Vincent, Eric Adams, Rand Holtram and Jim Parson.
- Two candidates are vying for the commissioner’s seat representing Groves; Richard “Dickie” Beaumont and Mike Cabaniss.
- The PA seat held by James Gamble is uncontested.
Groves City Council
Four seats are up for grabs in Groves.
- Incumbent Mayor Brad Bailey has opted not to run for reelection, and two current councilmembers, Ward 1 Councilmember Chris Borne and Ward 2 Councilmember Karen Theis are running for the spot of mayor.
- Ward 1: Incumbent Borne is running for mayor. If he loses, he maintains his seat because his term is not up. If he wins the mayor’s race, someone will be appointed to complete his unexpired term.
- Ward 2: Jeremy Young has filed for the seat.
Should Theis lose the mayor’s race, she will also lose her council seat because her term is up.
- Ward 4: Incumbent Kyle Hollier and Rhonda Dugas are running.
- City Marshal: Incumbent Norman Reynolds Jr. has filed, as has Tommy Smith.
Applications to file for the council seats, mayor’s seat or city marshal are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday through Aug. 17 at Groves City Hall, 3947 Lincoln Ave.
Because of COVID-19 safeguards, interested persons can pick up the application at the drive-through window.
There is a $25 filing fee. For more information, call 409-960-5773.
Terms are for two years.
Port Neches city
- Place 3: Incumbent John Davenport has filed.
- Place 5: Incumbent Julie Gauthier will not run for reelection. Terry Schwertner has filed for the seat.
Candidate packets can be picked up from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at Port Neches City Hall through the city secretary’s office, 1005 Merriman St.
There is a $100 filing fee. In lieu of filing fee, a petition signed by a minimum of 25 qualified voters from the city is required. For more information, call the city secretary’s office at 727-2182.
Terms are for three years.
PNGISD
Place 6: Incumbent Rusty Brittain has filed.
Place 7: Incumbent Jake Lefort has filed.
Applications to file for a seat on the school board can be found online at pngisd.org
Applications can be picked up from Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the administration building, 620 Ave. C, in Port Neches. For more information, contact Cheryl Jourdan at 409-722-4244, extension 1722.
Terms are for three years.
Additionally
Voters will also see ballots for federal, state and county seats. Sample ballots are not yet ready as the county clerk’s office is working with a number of other political subdivisions. Those ballots should be ready by the end of the month.
One of those races is for the county’s top cop seat — that of sheriff where the Democratic incumbent Zena Stephens will face Republican candidate David Odom.
Important election dates
- Filing dates for open ballots — July 20 to Aug. 17
- Last day to register to vote in the November election — Oct. 5
- First day of early voting — Oct. 19
- Last day of early voting — Oct. 30
- Election Day — Nov. 3