The City of Wichita Falls says applications for a place on the ballot may be filed from July 18 through Aug. 17. Candidates seeking to run as write-ins have a separate deadline of Aug. 21.

The filing deadlines are the next major milestones in determining the field for four city offices or districts. The candidate listings currently posted by the city are not the final election result, and the field may change before regular filing closes.

Who is currently listed

The city’s election information page currently lists Tim Short and Scott Poenitzsch as candidates for mayor.

David Coleman and Cathy Dodson are listed for City Council District 3. Mike Battaglino is listed for District 4, and Tom Taylor is listed for District 5.

Those listings show the candidates currently identified by the city for the 2026 election. They do not indicate who will win, and a race should not be treated as uncontested simply because one candidate is listed at a particular point in the filing period.

Dates voters should track

Voter registration closes Oct. 5, 2026. Residents who are not registered by that date will miss the scheduled registration deadline for the election.

Early voting is scheduled for Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3, 2026.

That calendar gives voters several dates to watch: Aug. 17 for the end of regular candidate filing, Aug. 21 for write-in filings, Oct. 5 for voter registration, Oct. 19 for the start of early voting and Nov. 3 for the election itself.

Why the filing period matters

Candidate filing determines which choices can appear in the mayoral and council contests. It also establishes whether the races shown on the city’s current list will remain contested once the regular and write-in filing periods have ended.

The election will affect the mayor’s office and representation for residents of Districts 3, 4 and 5. For voters, the immediate practical issue is tracking the final candidate field while also meeting the registration and voting deadlines later in the year.

The City of Wichita Falls maintains the election schedule and current candidate listings on its election information page. The city also maintains agendas, minutes and public notices through its municipal records page, including election-related records.

Regular candidate filing is scheduled to close Aug. 17. Write-in filings may continue through Aug. 21, after which the ballot field for the November election will be clearer.

The latest documented campaign development came Aug. 3, when Crist announced that he would skip a candidate forum hosted by the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club. The decision changes who will appear at that event, but the available reporting does not establish whether Crist is leading or trailing, or whether the absence will affect the vote.

The immediate consequence for residents is a short timetable before the city chooses whether to keep its incumbent mayor or advance a challenger. The election is nonpartisan and is being held alongside St. Petersburg City Council contests.

What is on the Aug. 18 ballot

Welch is running for reelection. Crist entered the race after filing election paperwork for St. Petersburg mayor, joining several other candidates in the contest.

Because the race is nonpartisan, the Aug. 18 election is not a party primary. The result will determine whether one candidate wins the mayor’s office outright or whether the contest continues.

A runoff is scheduled for Nov. 3 if no candidate receives a majority in the primary. That November election is conditional; it will occur only if the Aug. 18 results do not produce a majority winner.

The policy questions behind the race

Candidate discussions have centered on St. Petersburg’s growth and infrastructure needs. Those issues affect how the city responds to development, public works demands and the pressures that accompany continued growth.

The campaign has also included discussion of a proposed property-tax overhaul that is headed to voters in November. That proposal is separate from the Aug. 18 mayoral result. A primary victory or runoff would decide the city’s leadership contest, while the property-tax measure would be addressed through its own November vote.

The mayoral race also comes as St. Petersburg faces decisions connected to Tropicana Field redevelopment. The available reporting does not resolve those policy questions or identify what any individual candidate would ultimately do. It does show why the election matters beyond the campaign calendar: the person who leads the city will take office while redevelopment, infrastructure, growth and property-tax debates remain active.

What voters should watch next

The next fixed date is the Aug. 18 primary. Voters will choose among Welch, Crist and the other candidates in the nonpartisan mayoral contest, as well as consider City Council races taking place alongside it.

The result will establish whether the mayoral race is settled in August or moves to the conditional Nov. 3 runoff. Until the primary is counted, the November runoff should not be treated as certain.

Crist’s Aug. 3 forum decision is therefore a campaign development, not an election result. The supplied reporting provides no final polling position for the candidates and no verified measure of an electoral effect from his absence.

For St. Petersburg residents, the practical questions are whether Aug. 18 produces a majority winner and which candidate is positioned to lead the city through decisions involving growth, infrastructure, Tropicana Field redevelopment and the separate property-tax proposal.

For Poway voters, the filing cutoff is the next major step toward setting the November ballot. The three offices will shape the city’s next four-year governing term, although the city’s accessible election page does not yet provide a final list of candidates who filed.

Three offices, four-year terms

The election will select one mayor to serve at large across Poway, along with one councilmember from District 1 and one councilmember from District 3. Each listed office carries a full four-year term.

The nomination period began July 13 and runs through the Aug. 7 deadline. Candidates must complete the city’s filing process before 5 p.m. The City Clerk’s Office provides the filing contact and requires an appointment for the process, according to the city’s election information.

Eligibility requirements also apply. Candidates must be Poway residents and registered voters. Anyone seeking the District 1 or District 3 seat must additionally live in the district they seek to represent.

Candidate field remains to be confirmed

The city’s election page links to official election resolutions, notices and unofficial candidate-status material. It does not provide the final candidate list for the Aug. 7 deadline in the approved election information.

That distinction matters when evaluating the November contests. The races should not be described as contested until the official candidate list is released. No winners or ballot order can be identified before certification.

The city has issued an official 2026 notice of election covering the Poway municipal election process. The city also publishes multilingual election notices, giving residents additional official material as the election schedule advances.

What to watch after Aug. 7

The next scheduled milestone is the general municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. The candidate list and later certified election materials will clarify which names appear on the ballot for mayor, District 1 and District 3.

There is one possible qualification to the filing schedule. If an incumbent does not file, California’s extended filing rules may affect the final deadline. Poway’s final clerk notice should be checked for any schedule change.

Until that information is released, the confirmed facts are the offices at stake, the eligibility rules, the Aug. 7 filing cutoff and the Nov. 3 election date.

The approved state and county records confirm the date and offices involved, but they do not include certified Hallwood vote totals or identify the elected officials. That means the available records establish the scope of the election without establishing its final outcome.

What Hallwood’s election covered

The Virginia Department of Elections calendar lists Hallwood as a town in Accomack County and identifies one mayoral contest along with six Town Council seats. The calendar also shows Hallwood’s recurring six-seat council structure.

Accomack County’s public notice confirms that the county conducted a dual primary on Aug. 4, 2026. Hallwood was among the Accomack localities with municipal offices on the ballot.

For residents and voters, the offices on the ballot are consequential because the vote determines Hallwood’s municipal leadership and the full six-member council slate. Those officials will represent the town in decisions involving local government, services, budgets and other municipal matters.

What remains unresolved

The records currently available do not show how many votes each candidate received or who won the mayoral and council contests. They also do not establish whether any of the contests were uncontested or whether an office was effectively decided in only one party primary.

Without official returns, turnout and party control cannot be characterized. It is also not possible from these records to name the people who will hold the mayor’s office or occupy the six council seats.

Next reporting step

The next material step is to obtain certified vote totals and the names of the elected officials. Those records would clarify the final result for each office and show whether the Aug. 4 primary settled any contest or left an additional election question unresolved.

The approved packet does not provide a certification deadline. For now, the state election calendar and Accomack County notice verify that Hallwood held the Aug. 4 election and identify the one mayoral seat and six council seats at issue, while the certified outcome remains unavailable in the records reviewed.