This East Texas town hasn't held a city council election in at least 18 years

[RandySF]

There is no living memory of the last contested election in Kennard. And the Texas Secretary of State, which oversees most elections, does not keep records on municipal races.

As many Texans head to the polls for city council and school board elections May 4, most voters in Houston County — where Kennard is located — will not have a chance to vote. Their local elections have been canceled due to a lack of contested races.

This is not unusual, as thousands of small U.S. towns cancel local elections each year after the filing period to run for office closes and no one challenges the incumbents.

In 2022, nearly 70% of races went uncontested in the U.S., according to Ballot Ready, a company that aggregates data on elections. In Texas, nearly 76% of local races went uncontested that year.



https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/25/texas-rural-local-elections/

[lastlib]

1. That's mind-blowing.

Democracy inaction.....

[ripcord]

2. The peolpe must be happy if no one is challenging the incumbants

[GregariousGroundhog]

5. This actually makes sense to me

I live in a conominium. There's usually a handful of people willing to serve on the board but getting the fifth person can sometimes be like pulling teeth. A lot of people are simply content to be as long as dues increases roughly match inflation and the building and its grounds are properly cared for.

[jmowreader]

7. Either that...

...or one of two things is happening.

Thing 1, which I suspect: No one else wants to do it. A lot of small towns don't pay their city councils. "Do it for the Honor of Service!" Naturally, everyone blames you for everything that went wrong even if you COULDN'T have had anything to do with it. So, leave the job to the four or five people who will take abuse for free.

Thing 2, which is also possible: anyone who tries challenging an incumbent gets attacked by the incumbent, the local weekly paper, the county Republican Central Committee etc. to the extent that they finally flee the city.

[LeftInTX]

6. Population is only 337. My HOA is larger. Maybe no one else wants to do it.

Our school board members each represent about 30,000 voters.
Most of the time, they are uncontested.

[Deuxcents]

3. 2010 census has 337 as it's population..was just curious so I looked it up

[LeftInTX]

4. That's the first place I looked. 337 is real small.

My HOA is larger. We've had the same HOA leadership for almost 20 years. (Poor HOA no one else wants to do it..LOL)