Breckenridge Texan

Eligible Breckenridge and Stephens County citizens who are interested in taking an active part in the local government may apply for positions on the three local governing boards that will have elections on May 2. Applications for the various positions that are up for election this year will be accepted through Feb. 13 for the Breckenridge City Commission, Breckenridge Independent School District Board of Trustees and the Stephens Memorial Hospital District Board of Directors.

Note that these elections are different than the General Election, aka Uniform Election, for county, state and federal offices. The General Election will be held in November, with the Primary Elections for the Democratic and Republican parties scheduled for March 3.

BRECKENRIDGE CITY COMMISSION

The Breckenridge Commission offices that are up for election this year are Mayor, currently held by Bob Sims; Place 1, currently held by Blake Hamilton, and Place 2, currently held by Greg Akers.

The filing process opened on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and will continue through Friday, Feb. 13. Any qualified resident of Breckenridge may file in the City Secretary’s office, 105 N. Rose Ave., for any of the positions. The City of Breckenridge offices are open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays.

According to the City of Breckenridge’s website, as of noon today, three people have turned in applications:

Mayor:

Bob Sims-Application filed January 14, 2026
Paul Huntington Jr.- Application filed January 14, 2026

Commissioner Place 2:

Justin Rose- Application filed January 15, 2026

Huntington is the Place 4 City Commissioner. The City of Breckenridge does not have a provision in its charter that requires candidates who are current office holders to resign to run for another office; although, such a provision is allowed (but not required), according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. If Huntington wins the mayoral race, his City Commission position would become vacant when he takes office in the new position. The vacancy would then be filled by appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term, in accordance with section 4.10 of the City of Breckenridge Charter, City Secretary Jessica Sutter said.

Qualifications for all candidates for office in Breckenridge include:

• Be a United States citizen;
• Be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as applicable;
• Have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be: totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote;
• Have not been finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
• Have resided continuously in the State for 12 months and in the territory (City of Breckenridge) from which the office is elected for 6 months immediately preceding the date of the filing deadline; mayoral candidates must have 1-year residence;
• Be a registered voter in the territory (City of Breckenridge) from which the office is elected as of the date of the filing deadline for a candidate’s place on the ballot.

For more information about the Breckenridge City Commission election, call Sutter at 254-559-8287.

BISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES

There are four positions up for election on the Breckenridge Independent School District’s Board of Trustees:

Place 3, currently held by Ty Bartoskewitz
Place 4, currently held by Paul Lippe
Place 6, currently held by Nic McClymond
Place 7, currently held by Chad Townson

Places 6 and 7 are for the regular three-year terms. Places 3 and 4 are for two-year terms, since Bartoskewitz and Lippe were appointed last year when no one applied to run for Place 3 and then about a month after the 2025 election Jimmy McKay resigned from Place 4. Since Bartoskewitz and Lippe were appointed, they must be now run for election for the remaining 2 years. As of Monday evening, Jan. 19, several applications had been picked up for the school board positions.

The filing process opened on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and will continue through Friday, Feb. 13, during regular office hours.

Applications to serve on the BISD Board of Trustees may be filed in person at the BISD central office, 208 N. Miller St.; by mail sent to BISD, Attn: Terri Collie, P.O. Box 1738, Breckenridge, TX 76424; by email to terri.collie@breckenridgeisd.org; or by fax to 254-422-9600.

To be eligible to be a candidate for, or elected or appointed to, the office of school board member, a person must:

1. Be a United States citizen.
2. Be 18 years of age or older on the first day of the term to be filled at the election or on the date of appointment, as applicable.
3. Have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.
4. Have not been finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities. A person is ineligible to serve as a member of the board of a district if the person has been convicted of a felony or an offense under Penal Code 43.02(b) (prostitution).
5. Have resided continuously in the state for 12 months and in the territory (Breckenridge Independent School District) from which the office is elected for six months immediately preceding the following date: a. For an independent candidate, the date of the regular filing deadline for a candidate’s application for a place on the ballot. b. For a write-in candidate, the date of the election at which the candidate’s name is written in. c. For an appointee to an office, the date the appointment is made.
6. Be registered to vote in the territory (Breckenridge Independent School District) from which the office is elected on the date described at item 5, above.

For more information about the BISD Board of Trustees election, visit the BISD’s Board of Trustees website page or call the BISD office at 254-522-9600, ext. 6002.

STEPHENS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

There are four at-large positions up for election on the Stephens Memorial Hospital District’s Board of Directors. Those positions are currently held by Kevin Simmons, Wade Toombs, Todd Tidwell and Bruce Curry.

The filing process opened on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and will continue through Friday, Feb. 13, during regular office hours.

Applications for a place on the ballot are available at Stephens Memorial Hospital, 200 S. Geneva St. Applications must be turned in to and accepted by Samantha Palacios at SMH in person or by mail; via email at samantha.palacios@smhtx.com; or by fax at 254-559-6536.

For more information about the SMH District Board of Directors election, call the hospital at 254-559-2241.

VOTER REGISTRATION, EARLY VOTING AND ELECTION DAY

For the board member elections, each entity will hold an election only if they have contested races for any of the positions up for re-election. In the case that elections need to be held, each governing board will hold Early Voting from April 20-28. Election Day will be Saturday, May 2.

The polling location/locations on Election Day will be determined by which of the three entities need to have elections.

In order to vote in the city, school district or hospital elections, citizens must be registered to vote by Thursday, April 2. In order to vote in a specific election, citizens must be registered in the appropriate district. For example, to vote in the City Commission election, voters must live within the city limits of Breckenridge. To vote in the school board election, voters must live within the Breckenridge Independent School District. To vote in the hospital board election, voters must live within the Stephens Memorial Hospital District.