BEAUMONT, Texas — The Beaumont mayor and two city council seats will be decided this May in the city's municipal election.
As of 2 p.m. Friday no one but the incumbent council members had applied to run for the seats in wards two and four.
This means ward two councilmember Mike Getz and Charles "Chris" Durio, Jr. in ward four will continue in office without having to defend their seats.
Beaumont Mayor Robin Mouton is seeking re-election in 2023 after serving her first term as the city's first Black female mayor. Roy West, who ran in the last mayoral election, and James Daryl Eller Jr. will be running against her.
Mouton beat West with 52% of the vote and a margin of a little more than 600 votes in a runoff election in 2021.
Mouton, who made history as the first Black female mayor of the city, replaced former mayor Becky Ames who held the office for 14 years.
She became the city's first new mayor to be elected since 2007.
The at-large councilmember race is the most crowded race with five candidates vying for two seats.
Both incumbents Randy Feldschau and Albert "AJ" Turner are running again. Feldschau is seeking his third term while Turner is seeking his second.
Longtime NAACP-Beaumont chapter leader and pastor Michael Cooper announced in January 2023 that he would be running for one of the at-large seats.
Terry Preston Roy, a longtime Beaumont resident, also announced his run for an at-large seat in January 2023.
On Wednesday morning Biguita Hernandez-Smith, who ran for mayor in 2021, threw her hat in to run for the at-large seat.
Because there are two seats to be filled in the at-large contest there is no chance of a runoff and the two largest vote getters will win.
Longtime ward three councilmember Audwin Samuel will be defending his seat against two opponents.
Beaumont pastor Carlton Sharp announced in January he would also run for the seat.
Corrections officer Geary Senigaur, Jr., filed his application to run for the ward three seat on February 2, 2023.
The municipal election will be held on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Early voting will be from April 24, 2023 through May 2, 2023, according to the city.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
