By Edmond Ortiz
New Braunfels’ incumbent mayor and a challenger who appeared to have upset him in the city’s May 2 election are exchanging words as the city proceeds to set up a runoff election to determine a winner.
What is happening
Michael French, a U.S. Army veteran and a former Trump White House staffer, placed first in a four-way mayoral race at the end of balloting May 2, receiving 49.1% of the vote from Comal and Guadalupe counties. Incumbent Neal Linnartz finished second with 38.2%.
French initially claimed victory, but city officials voiced concern May 4 that, because of a conflict between New Braunfels’ city charter and a portion of the Texas constitution, a June 13 runoff election would be needed to clearly settle the mayoral contest.
Specifically, according to city representatives, the state constitution requires a majority vote to resolve an election for a public office involving a three-year term, such as the case with New Braunfels’ mayor. Under the city charter, a candidate with a plurality of votes would win.
City representatives said because none of the candidates on the town’s May 2 election ballot achieved a majority vote of 50% or higher, the two top vote-getters must meet in a runoff election. City representatives added that Texas’ constitution supersedes the city charter.
“This situation stems from a conflict between our city charter and the Texas Constitution,” City Attorney Valeria Acevedo said in a statement. “The (state constitution) clearly requires a majority vote for offices with terms longer than two years. Once this conflict was fully analyzed, it became clear that proceeding to a runoff is the legally required path forward.”
City Council, having its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. May 11, is expected to canvass the votes from the May 2 election, and officially call a June 13 runoff election to settle races for mayor and the District 6 council seat.
In the latter contest, officeholder April Ryan and one of her two challengers, Nikki Shaw, were the two top vote-getters, but each failed to clear the 50% threshold.
What they are saying
The city attorney’s announcement about New Braunfels’ election controversy has sparked critical remarks from both Linnartz and French, as well as comments from numerous residents on the city’s social media channels.
Linnartz, an attorney by trade, laid blame with the city attorney’s office, saying Acevado and her colleagues failed to properly research conflicts between the city charter and the state constitution, and that she offered an inadequate ruling prior to the start of early voting for the May 2 elections.
“A legal opinion was issued by the city attorney’s office stating that the election was to be decided by a plurality vote. It has become evident that no outside legal opinion was sought, and applicable state law was not researched or analyzed in reaching that incorrect conclusion,” Linnartz said in a May 6 statement.
Linnartz claimed the city attorney’s pre-election determination has led to confusion in the community, resulting in a lack of public trust in city government. He also said Acevado owes a public apology.
French issued reactions on his Facebook campaign page May 5 and 6, saying local officials admitting they incorrectly followed the city charter regarding the recent election amounted to governmental “incompetence” and a public embarrassment for the town and its people.
French also accused the authors of the original election ordinance in the city charter of willfully creating an invalid law designed to ensure electoral victory for favored candidates, namely incumbents here.
Additionally, French accused Linnartz of being backed by only developers and realtors, and that he is confident of winning the runoff election. New Braunfels’ rapid growth was a major and contentious issue among candidates in the May 2 elections.
“For one thing this was premeditated. This was carefully thought out. These are lawyers (and) they know exactly what they’re doing,” French said on his Facebook campaign page May 6. “This was a failsafe just in case the current mayor did not make 50% of the vote plus one.”
Jonathan Packer, president/CEO of the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, issued a statement on behalf of the chamber board, calling the entire situation “unfair” to candidates who invested time and resources in their campaigns, and to voters who expected a clear, final result on Election Night.
“We appreciate the city’s attention to this matter and look forward to a resolution that restores confidence and ensures clarity for all future elections,” Packer said in his statement.
What’s next
Early voting for the June 13 runoff elections will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. June 1-5, and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. June 6, and 7 a..m.-7 p.m. June 8 and 9 at the Comal County Elections Office, 396 N. Seguin Ave., and the Guadalupe County Elections Office, 3251 Texas Hwy. 123 in Seguin.
