Election list grows with week left to file; see the contested races

Published 12:32 am Saturday, February 12, 2022

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With just more than a week left for filing in local races, the pot of candidates has grown slightly in Port Arthur and Mid County.

The three races to see new candidates are in the Port Arthur mayoral race, Nederland school board race and the election for Nederland City Council.

The mayor’s race in Port Arthur has drawn four candidates; incumbent Thurman Bartie; former councilman Willie “Bae” Lewis; Floyd Batiste, former CEO of the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation; and Matthews Christian Jr..

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Christian filed this week.

There are no council seats up during this election cycle.

Port Arthur Independent School District Board of Trustees has two seats up for election — that of incumbent Dianne Brown and one left vacated when former trustee Robert Reid resigned after moving to another address in the city that is in the Nederland school district.

Brown has filed for reelection. There had been no other filings as of noon Friday.

In Nederland city government, there are three seats up for grabs, that of the mayor and two council seats.

Mayor Don Albanese has filed for reelection and has not drawn an opponent.

The Ward II and Ward IV seats are also up for election.

Sylvia Root, the Ward IV councilwoman, has filed for the Ward II seat.

The reason for the change is due to a charter change in 2019 stating a councilmember must reside in the ward they represent, according to information from the city.

The city doesn’t have single member district voting — voting is at-large but the revision to the city charter requires residency in the ward.

Root was elected before this was put into place but now must meet residency requirements.

David Guillot has also filed to run for Ward 4.

A third candidate has entered the race for two seats on Nederland Independent School Board of Trustees.

Daniel Cruz tossed his hat into the ring this week. He joins incumbents Nicholas L. Phillips and Suzanne Isom.

There have been no additional candidates in the Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7 board race.

Lester Champagne representing Nederland and Albert Moses Jr., representing Port Arthur, both filed for reelection.

Three seats on Sabine Pass Independent School District are up for election.

The seats are held by incumbents Ethan Blood, Jennifer Blood and Nadine Williams. A call to the school was not answered.