Left: Stanley | Photo via Campaign
Right: Fairly | Photo via Fairly Group
Businessman Alex Fairly, who had publicly weighed a run for Mayor of Amarillo, announced this morning he will not be running for mayor. Instead, Fairly threw his weight behind Councilman Place 1 Cole Stanley, though Stanley has not yet officially announced plans to run for mayor.
A public campaign pushing for Alex Fairly to run for mayor began shortly after he initiated a lawsuit against the City of Amarillo last year to block the issuance of tax anticipation notes for renovations to the Amarillo Civic Center. Calls for him to run grew louder after he won the lawsuit last October. That lawsuit is now headed for an appeal before the Seventh Court of Appeals, with a requests for oral arguments having been submitted by both Fairly and the City of Amarillo.
Fairly stated that his decision to not run for mayor does not mean he will not stay involved, though he feels that Cole Stanley would be a better choice. Fairly mentioned that he made his mind up about two weeks ago and reached out to Stanley encouraging him to run.
Cole Stanley was the only member of Amarillo City Council to vote against issuing the tax anticipation notes. First elected in 2021, Stanley has earned a reputation of being the most fiscally conservative member of the council. Stanley was also the leading voice to remove debt service for the then still under litigation tax anticipation notes from the proposed municipal tax rate last year, leading to the first reduction in the city’s basic tax rate in over a decade.
Stanley so far has been the only member of Amarillo City Council to not announce his plans for the May 6th election. Mayor Ginger Nelson, Councilman Place 3 Eddy Sauer and Councilman Place 4 Howard Smith have all announced they will not be seeking reelection. Councilwoman Place 2, Freda Powell, has announced she will be running for mayor, with Howard Smith’s endorsement.
Other candidates have already filed for both Mayor and Place 1. In addition to Freda Powell, candidates for mayor include Tonya Winston, Jeffrey McGunegle, and Sam Burnett. Candidates for Place 1 include Margie Gonzales and Ray White.
The deadline to file for a place on the ballot is February 17th at 5:00 pm. Be sure to regularly check AmarilloPioneer.com for the latest election updates.