A state district judge ordered the city of Mission to reinstate a candidate who had previously been removed from the ballot for the city’s May elections.
Joe Vargas, who is seeking the city council Place 3 seat, was notified by Mission City Attorney Gus Martinez in letter dated Feb. 24 that he did not meet the state requirements to run for office and would therefore be removed from the ballot.
The city’s decision to remove him came after it was discovered that Vargas had only just changed his voter registration from McAllen to Mission a few days before he applied to be on the ballot and the change became effective a few days after the filing deadline.
Section 141.001 of the Texas Election Code states that a candidate must be “registered to vote in the territory from which the office is elected” by the filing deadline.
Vargas then filed a request for a temporary restraining order on Monday, requesting that the city be ordered to reinstate him to the ballot.
In it, he argued that the election code allows cities to set their own candidate requirements and noted that the city charter only requires city council candidates to have been a citizen of Mission at least six months before the election, a requirement he says he meets.
Other requirements listed in the charter are that they must be a qualified voter of the state of Texas and that they must not be indebted to the city at the time of taking office.
State District Judge Marla Cuellar signed the TRO on Wednesday finding that “there is evidence that harm is imminent to Plaintiff Joe Vargas,” the order stated.
There was also evidence, the order stated, that “if the Court does not issue the ex-parte temporary restraining order, Plaintiff Joe Vargas will be irreparably injured because he will lose his ability to be listed as a candidate to run for City Council Place 3 in the City of Mission’s May of 2022 Election.”
The judge scheduled a hearing in the case for March 16.
City Attorney Gus Martinez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
