Thatâs apparently not the case â at least from the viewpoint of local candidates.
As the filing period closed Friday for the upcoming May 1 municipal and school board elections, all eight races in the Killeen area are contested.
Moreover, the three local elections â Killeen City Council, Killeen ISD school board and Harker Heights City Council had drawn a total of 25 candidates for eight seats.
Six of those candidates are seeking a single seat â District 1 on the Killeen City Council. With incumbent Shirley Fleming finishing her third term and ineligible to seek reelection because of charter restrictions, a half-dozen hopefuls are campaigning for the seat.
Three new candidates applied for spots on the Killeen City Council Thursday. Holly Teel and Lauren Young filed their applications for the District 1 seat, and former councilmember Brockley Moore applied to run for the District 4 seat. All four district seats for the Killeen City Council will be up for grabs in the May 1 election. Feb. 12 will be the last day for filing applications for places on the May 1 election ballot.
The expiring terms of Central Texas College District board members Bill Beebe, place 4, and Brenda Coley, place 5, are up for grabs this May. Both are at-large positions and are six-year terms. Both Beebe and Coley filed their applications Thursday for places on the May election ballot.
Candidates who wish to run for Killeen city and school board elections can now file an application do so.
All four district seats for the Killeen City Council will be open for the May 1 election. Two Killeen school board seats are also up for election on the same date.
Councilmembers Debbie Nash-King and Steve Harris will be eligible to run again, but due to term limits, Shirley Fleming will not be allowed to run again. The District 3 seat will also be up for election that was previously held by Jim Kilpatrick, who died Jan. 5 after battling COVID-19.
Nash-King, Harris and Ramon Alvarez have all filed for the upcoming election, city officials confirmed Wednesday, the first day of the filing period. Harris and Nash-King have both filed for reelection and Alvarez has filed for the District 3 seat previously held by Kilpatrick.