The candidate filing window for League City's Nov. 3 general election closes at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 17, locking in the field for five at-large seats and a contested mayoral race.
Mayor Nick Long and Council Member Tom Crews will face off for the top job. Long, a consultant, filed on the first day the window opened, July 20, paying the $100 mayoral filing fee. Crews, who holds Position 3, filed Aug. 4. Under the city's home-rule charter, Crews' mayoral filing triggered an automatic resignation from his council seat because more than one year and 30 days remained in his term.
The city's official elections page lists eight candidates across the five races as of its last update before Monday's deadline:
Position 1 — Robert Bruce, a paramedic who filed July 21, and Gordon Bethel, who filed July 24. Incumbent Andy Mann had not filed as of the city's last posted update. As we reported Aug. 14, a candidate named Carpenter also entered the Position 1 race.
Position 2 — Incumbent Tommy Cones, a retired firefighter who filed July 20, and challenger Gregory Van Etten, who filed Aug. 6. Van Etten spoke against the city's Flock surveillance cameras at the Aug. 11 council meeting.
Position 6 — Sean Doyle, a banker who filed July 20. Incumbent Chad Tressler had not filed as of the city's last posted update.
Position 7 — Incumbent Sean Saunders, a captain and paramedic, filed July 20. No challenger had filed.
Filing fees are $50 per council seat and $100 for mayor, per Ordinance 2026-022. Candidates may alternatively submit a petition signed by at least 25 registered voters.
Beyond the candidate races, voters will decide Proposition A: a nonbinding advisory question on whether the League City Police Department should continue using its 55 automated license plate reader cameras at fixed locations on public roadways. Council voted 6-1 on Aug. 11 to place the measure on the ballot, with Tressler the sole no vote and Mann absent. Long said adding the referendum to the existing election avoids a separate special election that would cost roughly $85,000.
"This is, I think, a perfect issue to take to the voters," Long said at the Aug. 11 meeting, as reported by KGTX 7. "In a time where everything is hyperpartisan, this is really a nonpartisan issue."
The write-in candidate declaration deadline is Aug. 21 at 5 p.m. Voter registration closes Oct. 5. Early voting runs Oct. 19–30, and Election Day polls will be open 7 a.m.–7 p.m. on Nov. 3 at eight locations across the city, including League City Civic Center and Hometown Heroes Park. If no candidate wins a majority in any race, a runoff is set for Dec. 12.
City Secretary Diana M. Stapp will conduct a lottery to determine ballot order.
