Council to vote on special election date

The Midland City Council will vote on Feb. 13 to call for a special election on May 4 to fill the vacant at-large seat on the Midland City Council.

City officials have stated state law requires a governing body hold a special election within 120 days of the vacancy occurring. Dan Corrales passed away last week, creating the vacancy.

Following the vote on Tuesday, a notice of election will be posted to the City of Midland website once the mayor signs it. Eligible Midland residents then will have the opportunity to file for the seat. The filing period is expected to last from Feb. 13 to March 4. An at-large seat requires a candidate run city-wide, a news release said.

The winner of the election will serve the remainder of the at-large term, which ends in January 2025. Should that person seek to serve as an-large council representative for another term, he or she would be required to run for office again in November.

Should the Midland City Council approve the May 4 date for the special election, it would join other elections set for the uniform election date – those having to do with the Midland Central Appraisal District and a utility district inside Midland County, according to the Midland County Elections Office on Wednesday.

The last City of Midland special election happened in January 2020 when John Norman won a three-person race to replace John Love III — who had resigned to run for U.S. Senate — and represent District 2.

In July 2008, Jerry Morales won a special election for an at-large city council seat. The seat had been vacated by Wes Perry after he was elected Mayor in November 2007.

The last Midland City Council member to pass away while in office was then-District 2 representative James Bradford in 2003. Vicky Hailey was elected in May 2003 to fill that seat.