Please note: Over the next few days, the Amarillo Pioneer’s Editorial Board will be publishing recommendations for various local races. In some races where multiple seats are up for grabs, recommendations may be spread out over several days. Please stay tuned to our website for recommendations and for a final list, which will be published next week.
FROM LEFT: Don Tipps, Misty Vigil, and Gabriel McHenry-Herrera/Photos by Tipps Campaign, Inspire Amarillo (Screenshot), and McHenry-Herrera campaign
By Amarillo Pioneer Editorial Board
In the race for Amarillo City Council, Place 2, voters have three candidates hoping to earn their votes. We respect all of the candidates for stepping up to run for office, and for casting their visions for the city.
Ultimately, we feel that this is not a race where our Editorial Board can make a firm recommendation at this time.
Don Tipps, a local insurance agent with decades of business experience in the community, is hands-down the likeliest candidate to win this race. Tipps has yard signs all over town, has outraised his opponents by outrageous numbers, and has secured nearly every endorsement possible for his campaign. Likewise, Tipps seems to have found the perfect sweet spot of being able to appeal to both voters angry with the current direction of the city, as well as those pleased with the city’s current leadership.
As for Tipps’ answers on policy, he pretty much has every right answer that voters could be looking for in this race. Tipps opposes taxpayer-funded lobbying and supports moving city elections to November, two key issues about which local conservatives have made their feelings strongly known over the past few years.
However, our Editorial Board is not quite ready to fully endorse Tipps — although many of our members will be voting for him. This is due largely to the fact that all three candidates in this race are worthy of voter support.
With that being said, Tipps is extremely likely to win his race and likely will be a great councilman for Amarillo. Tipps has the right answers on the issues and will undoubtedly be a major improvement over the person he is running to replace, outgoing Councilwoman Freda Powell.
As for the other candidates in the race — Misty Vigil and Gabriel McHenry-Herrera — both people are great thinkers and have many wonderful ideas they have brought to the race. Vigil has firmly positioned herself as a strong taxpayer champion-type candidate, which is great news for voters. Meanwhile, McHenry-Herrera has the kind of outside-the-box thinking skills that seem to be missing from the current City Council. And, as with Tipps, both of these candidates would be a marked improvement over Powell.
Either way, voters can’t really go wrong in this race. All three candidates are better than their soon-to-be predecessor and all three would be worthy of your vote.
We offer no recommendation at this time for Amarillo City Council, Place 2.
Election Day is May 6. Early voting begins on April 24.
Please note: An editorial board recommendation does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Amarillo Pioneer’s advertisers or staff. A recommendation of one candidate does not represent a criticism of other candidates running unless otherwise stated. Recommendations may be offered in additional races.