TEMPLE, Texas -- Temple Mayor Danny Dunn will not run for re-election in 2018, and Mayor Pro Tem and District 1 Councilmember Tim Davis announced Friday he would seek the job instead.
According to Texas' constitution, an elected official with more than one year and 30 days left on his or her current term automatically resigns when they announce their candidacy for another public office. For that reason, the District 1 council seat was open, as of Friday.
City Council was expected to announce plans for a special election during its Feb. 1 meeting to fill that vacancy left by Davis. Assuming that happens as expected, the city council special election would then be held on May 5, and candidates would be able to begin filing immediately after the Feb. 1 meeting.
Dunn has been mayor for five years and spent the three previous years as councilmember for District 1.
“It has been the greatest honor to serve the City of Temple for eight years, first as a council member and then as Mayor,” Dunn said in a statement. “Temple is my home and my first love. I wanted to serve as Mayor since I was a boy and my wife, Alicia and my family as a whole has helped me make that possible.”
Dunn said he planned to continue to work and volunteer in the Temple area. He also expressed interest in attending graduate school.
According to the city, he hoped to one day teach and pursue a lifelong passion for writing.