According to city officials, council candidates may run for any available seat on the council and are not required to run in the district where they reside.

Ramirez, who recently filed to run for re-election, said he's looking forward to the race with Restman.

“I think it's an exciting challenge we have before us,” said Ramirez. “I'm looking forward to a good, clean race. I feel like I've accomplished a lot during my past term, and I feel like I've done what I set out to do, which was speak for the people in District 2, not speak at them.”

Restman could not be reached before press time.

The move will leave McDonald currently unopposed for the May contest.

Longtime Councilman for District 6 Greg Biddison announced last week he would not be running for re-election. Shortly after his announcement,  Howard College Vice President Terry Hansen filed to run for the seat. Hansen remains unopposed at this time.

According to Assistant City Secretary Tami Davis, would-be candidates have until March 9 to file their candidacy at City Hall to be eligible for the May contest.

The city of Coahoma has three seats — all are at-large — up for election in May.

Seats held by incumbents David Elmore, Ricky Stone and Mayor Bill Read, will all be up for grabs. According to officials with the city of Coahoma, Coahoma resident Jay Holt filed to run for one of the at-large seats, but is the only candidate right now. In fact, officials say all three incumbents have indicated they do not plan to run for re-election.

In the city of Forsan, three at-large positions will be decided in the May election, as incumbents Mary Gressett, Fred Hogan and Marty Whetsel have all indicated they plan to run for re-election. According to Forsan Mayor Roger Hudgins, no challengers have come forward as yet.

In Stanton, an at-large position on the city council, along with the District 4 seat, will be up for the taking. According to officials, the at-large incumbent, Tommy Haislip, and District 4 incumbent, Steven Villa, have filed to run for re-election and are currently unopposed.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it