Councilman Cole Stanley confirmed to The Amarillo Pioneer this afternoon he will make an announcement regarding a potential run for mayor next week. Stanley’s confirmation follows an announcement by Alex Fairly, who has chosen not to run for mayor. Stanley had publicly pushed for Fairly to run for Mayor, though the roles have now been reversed, with Fairly now pushing for Stanley to run.

Stanley has earned a reputation as the council’s most fiscally conservative member, often being the sole no vote. In particular, Stanley was the only vote against the issuance of tax anticipation notes at the center of Fairly’s successful lawsuit against the city last year.

While Fairly did not cite the lawsuit in his decision not to run, both Fairly and the City of Amarillo are gearing up for an appeal of the ruling before the Seventh Court of Appeals.

If Stanley does run for mayor, he will join Councilwoman Place 2 Freda Powell, entrepreneur Tonya Winston, former teacher Jeffrey McGunegle, and truck driver Sam Burnett. If he choses to remain in Place 1, he will face challengers including Heal the City chaplain Margie Gonzales and retired businessman Ray White.

The deadline to file for a place on the May 6th ballot is February 17th at 5:00 pm.