Here is who has filed so far for election in Orange County, Port Arthur and Mid Jefferson County

Published 12:20 am Wednesday, February 8, 2023

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Here is who has filed so far for election in Orange County, Port Arthur and Mid Jefferson County

Less than two weeks remain for individuals to file for seats on school board, city council and other elected seats in Orange and portions of Jefferson counties.

Filing runs to Feb. 17 for the May 6 election.

Early voting for the May election is April 24 to May 2.

In Orange County:

Bridge City

Three seats are open on the Bridge City City Coucil and three candidates have come forward. The are: Place 1, Aaron Roccaforte; Place 3, Bryant Champagne; and Place 5, Terri Gauthier.

Bridge City Independent School District

The seats for two board members are up for election. They are Place 6 Michael C. Johnson and Place 7 Mark Anderson.

A call to the ISD was not returned by Tuesday afternoon.

Orange City Council

Orange City Council has two seats up for election and only one person has filed so far.

Place 6 incumbent Paul Birch has filed for reelection.

No one has filed for the District 3 seat.

Terms are for three years.

West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District

There are two seats up for election on the WOCCISD board of trustees, with only one person filing as of this week, Incumbent Ruthie Hancock.

City of West Orange

Three seats are up for election on West Orange City Council with two people filing so far.

The include Randy Branch who has filed for reelection for mayor and Meritta Kennedy who has filed for reelection to city council. 

Little Cypress-Mauriceville Independent School District

In LC-MISD all three incumbents have filed for reelection.

They include Place 1 Clinton Temple, Place 2 Joshua Fisher and Place 5 Kevin Wallace.

There have been no new filings this week.

City of Vidor

The mayor’s seat and three council seats are up for election in the City of Vidor.

Filings include Mayor, Misty Songe; Ward 1, Mercedes Lee; Ward 4, Jessica Barker; and Ward 6, Victoria M. Jones.

Vidor Independent School District

There are five seats up on Vidor ISD school board.

Filings include Position 1 incumbent Gina VanDevender, Natalie Long and Dr. Billy Jordan for Position 4, Brooke Gilthorpe for Position 5, and Position 6 incumbent Rollie Burr.

A call to the district was not immediately returned.

Port Arthur and Mid County:

City of Port Arthur

Six seats are open on Port Arthur City Council and at least two of the races have multiple contestants.

Filings include: District 1, Willie “Bae” Lewis; District 2, Tiffany Hamilton; District 3, Charles Joseph and Charlie Lewis Jr.; District 4 Allen “Opie” Valka and Harold L. Doucet; Position 5, Cal J. Jones; and Position 6, Donald Ray Frank Sr.

Terms are for three years. 

Port Arthur Independent School District

With two spots open, only one person has filed for a position on the school boardNina Gail Stelly.

Incumbents are Kenneth Lofton Sr. and Joseph Guillory II.

Guillory in January was sworn in as Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace. Lloyd Marie Johnson, who previously served as a trustee, was recently appointed to replace Guillory until a trustee is elected to the position.

Terms are for three years. 

City of Nederland

No new candidates have joined the list of people seeking the two open seats.

Brent Duplant, Curtis Stratton and Blaine Seymour have filed for the Ward 1 seat.

Ward 2 incumbent Randy Sonnier has filed for reelection.

Terms are for three years.

Nederland Independent School District

In the Nederland ISD race, only the incumbents have filed so far. They are Kay DeCuir and Jerry Albanese.

Terms are for three years.

Sabine Pass Independent School District

There are two seats up for election on SPISD school board. There have been no filings yet.

Sabine Pass Port Authority

Three seats are up for election in the Sabine Pass Port Authority race and all three incumbents have filed for reelection; Ricky Keltz, Suzette Chumley and Lin Berg in addition to a fourth candidate. The name of the individual was not available at press time.

Terms are for two years.