What looked like a settled mayoral race in New Braunfels has now been thrown into a runoff after the city acknowledged a conflict between its charter and the Texas Constitution.
Before the May 2, 2026 election, the city charter was understood to mean the mayoral race could be decided by a plurality — simply whoever received the most votes. But after the election, the City Attorney’s Office said legal counsel identified a conflict with the Texas Constitution, which requires a majority vote for municipal offices when the term exceeds two years. In New Braunfels, the mayor serves a three-year term.
According to the city, unofficial results showed Michael French with 3,667 votes, or 49.18%, followed by Neal Linnartz with 2,852 votes, or 38.25%. Angela Allen received 815 votes, or 10.93%, and John Frazier received 122 votes, or 1.64%. Because no candidate reached a majority, the city now says the top two finishers must advance to a runoff.
City Attorney Valeria Acevedo said the issue stems from a conflict between the city charter and the Texas Constitution, and that once the matter was fully analyzed, proceeding to a runoff became the legally required path forward. The city also said it plans to bring in an independent outside attorney to confirm that interpretation.
The decision raises obvious questions. How was this conflict not resolved before votes were cast? Why did the city move through an election under one interpretation, only to reverse course after the results were in? And what does that mean for voter confidence moving forward?
New Braunfels officials say they will work with county election officials to schedule the runoff for both the mayor’s race and the District 6 City Council race, with more information to come. What was expected to be a straightforward election is now a constitutional issue — and one likely to draw even more public concern in the days ahead.
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