Oct. 28, 2026, 4:46 a.m. CT
Seven candidates are running for mayor of Corpus Christi in the upcoming Nov. 3 election.The race includes incumbent Mayor Paulette Guajardo, two current City Council members, and four political newcomers.
Seven people want to be your mayor, and Nov. 3 could bring a change to Corpus Christi’s current leadership.
The mayor’s role has, traditionally, been largely that of a figurehead — the lead face of Corpus Christi in governmental, community and diplomatic relations, acting as an advocate and as a promoter of the city.
On a practical level, the position has limited additional power compared to the other eight City Council members — for example, his or her vote carries the same weight — but the mayor still plays a primary hand in crafting council agendas, presiding over what can be lengthy meetings and, in the big picture, setting direction of the council and the city.
The stakes, however, were higher in the current term as the city faced down what appeared to be an imminent water emergency, with all the world seemingly watching.
In less than a week, voters will decide whether incumbent Mayor Paulette Guajardo will keep her top office or if one of six challengers may take her place.
Among those vying for Guajardo’s spot are two other current City Council members, Kaylynn Paxson and Gil Hernandez, as well as political newcomers Dave Heasley, David Ainsworth Sr. and Chelise Hyatt.
John Calkusic previously ran for mayor in the last election cycle, garnering 0.86% of votes cast in the 2024 race.
Neither Ainsworth nor Calkusic responded to the Caller-Times’ requests for interviews.
Kaylynn Paxson
Paxson, 36, has served one term as representative of District 4, the district largely comprising Flour Bluff and North Padre Island.
Her decision to step away from her post in pursuit of higher office was driven by belief that “the city needs new leadership and it starts at the top,” she said.
“I think that this city needs a mayor who focuses on the people and is going to bring attention to the things that really improve and benefit the residents’ lives,” Paxson said.
Paxson acted as mayor during Guajardo’s 30-day suspension, a penalty imposed by a council tribunal related to a controversial $2 million tax incentive package.
As mayor pro tem, she had presided over Guajardo’s disciplinary hearing.
While filling in for the role from Aug. 8 through Sept. 6, she focused on listening and respectfulness, showing “how quickly the environment can change,” Paxson said.
“There’s a lot that can be improved just by having the right leader,” she said. “And that was kind of the biggest thing to me, was how that change happened very quickly and it showed me that it’s very possible for us to have a leadership that puts the people first.”
Paxson has been a staunch opponent of the Inner Harbor project — among her reasons potential environmental impacts, price tag and capacity. She has instead endorsed the Nueces River Authority’s proposed Harbor Island desalination plant, a route to “long-term sustainable water supply that’s going to provide enough water for the residents, the businesses and room to grow,” she said.
While water has been the largest focus on the City Council in the current term, there are other priorities that must have attention, Paxson said, including residential streets, jobs and ensuring “we have good policies in place for accountability.”
A self-employed contractor, Paxson recently ended an economic development consulting position with Aransas Pass, a decision made to focus fully on the election, she said.
Paxson believes Corpus Christi “voters want a change.”
“If they want a change, that’s what they need to vote for — it’s fresh candidates, fresh ideas,” she said. “I’m humbly asking for their support as someone to bring some new, fresh ideas to this election and this campaign and to this city, really.”
David Ainsworth Sr.
Ainsworth did not respond to several Caller-Times requests for an interview.
Paulette Guajardo
Guajardo, 54, has served on the City Council for 10 years — her first two terms as one of three at-large representatives and the past four terms as mayor.
Should she be elected in November, it would be her final term.
Seeking reelection is driven by a love of Corpus Christi and “responsibility to lead the city in the right direction and lead the community in the right direction,” Guajardo said.
In her experience as mayor, she has “learned that leadership requires courage, especially when the decisions in front of you are difficult or unpopular,” Guajardo said.
“In terms of listening, some of the most valuable conversations have been outside of City Hall, when you’re listening to everyday people about what matters in their lives and what they expect from their elected officials,” she said.
Guajardo has likely been the most vocal supporter of the Inner Harbor desalination project — and has vowed to bring the proposal back to the council in January, should she retain her office — but has also supported groundwater, conservation and water reuse.
Water will remain the top priority, she said, but there must be progress on other priorities, including streets, neighborhoods, sidewalks and public safety.
There are ways to improve council communications, she said — disagreements are a part of governing but should not “prevent us from doing the people’s business.”
If elected, Guajardo said she would continue efforts “to build consensus, to encourage open communication and keep our discussions focused on solutions, rather than personalities.”
With an upcoming legislative session, “it’s going to be very important that we have strong representation there that already has relationships in Austin and Washington, DC, to get things done and fix some things that need to be fixed and restore those relationships,” she said.
“I’ve dedicated years of my life to serving Corpus Christi and I still have the energy, the determination and the experience to get things done,” Guajardo said. “I think this election is critical to experienced leadership, strong leadership and putting Corpus Christi above politics.”
Gil Hernandez
Hernandez, 57, has served on the City Council for four terms as District 5 representative, a large portion of the district composed of the Southside.
His ambition hasn’t been to become mayor of Corpus Christi, he said; rather, there is unfinished work that he wants to see through, feeling “obligated to finish out that responsibility.”
“I didn’t want that to end that way, without getting an accomplishment on water and securing water for the next 50 years,” Hernandez said. “There’s multiple projects happening right now, but I just want to make sure that we’re doing these things the right way.”
There’s also work left for streets and infrastructure, he said.
Hernandez has opposed the Inner Harbor desalination project, largely based on financial reasoning, but supported others, including groundwater, water reuse and desalination at other locations.
He often invokes a 2020 City Council meeting in which he had supported pursuing a water supply project in addition to the plans for the proposed Inner Harbor desalination plant.
Hernandez lost the vote, he said.
Ultimately, “the water crisis is entirely our own fault,” Hernandez said, describing a missed opportunity to work with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority on a desalination project.
“I say that because if we would have started any one of these projects we’re doing now — wastewater reuse, groundwater — just a year earlier or maybe two years earlier, we would have avoided the entire crisis of not having water,” he said.
“It is my goal to diversify our water supply as much as possible with multiple projects,” he said. “However, I do keep in mind that it has to be affordable — it’s not water at any cost.”
A major priority, should he win mayor’s office, is having a more robust debt management policy, Hernandez said.
Hernandez has a favorite mantra that sums up his view on governance.
“Every time I’m sworn in, I say these words: It is not for us to pick winners and losers but to ensure that there’s a fair playing ground for everybody to compete and be treated equally,” he said.
Hyatt, 44, is the development executive for Scouting America South Texas Council.
She doesn’t have a political background but became interested in city politics after hearing others voice “their frustration at the things that are going on at the city.”
“I hadn’t really been following everything very closely, so I started doing my research and seeing everything that the city is going through right now,” Hyatt said. “And as I started researching more and more, I started getting more frustrated.”
Hyatt ultimately determined that she was the most qualified candidate for the job and that it would be the position in which she could “make the biggest impact.”
The Inner Harbor desalination site was the wrong spot for a desalination plant at the outset, she said, but work should still be pursued because it is the facility closest to development.
The brine should be piped out to the Gulf, however, and the Harbor Island proposal should still be pursued, Hyatt said.
Improving council dynamics means listening and understanding people’s motivations and goals, she said.
“I think the way that you get people to work together in any situation is you see what they want and I believe that in any area there will be at least a small portion that every single person agrees with,” Hyatt said.
Other issues that need attention include roads and homelessness, she said.
“Taxes keep going up; people aren’t seeing a return on their investment as far as taxes go,” Hyatt said. “There’s the transparency in government that people are really concerned about. I think we can tackle all of those kind of at the same time.”
Aggressively pursuing grant funding could help bridge the gap on some of the quality-of-life programs that have been cut to balance the budget, she added.
“I’ve heard in several different forums people talking about how our relationships with Austin and with Washington has been eroded because our city cannot get along,” Hyatt said. “I have an advantage in that area because I have a fresh perspective. I’ve never had any kind of issue with Austin or with Washington — on day one, I can go in a fresh face, a fresh person, a fresh perspective and start repairing those relationships.”
John Calkusic
Calkusic did not respond to several Caller-Times requests for an interview.
Dave Heasley
Heasley, 56, is a self-employed welder and mechanic, with past experience as an offshore captain.
A lifelong Corpus Christi resident, he entered the mayoral race with no political experience.
His interest in city government had been piqued, in part, by the Inner Harbor desalination talks, as well as the findings reached by the council tribunal in Guajardo’s disciplinary hearing.
Heasley described his prior occupation as an offshore captain as making him familiar with desalination — desalination units on boats, and some land-based, he said.
“I know that Inner Harbor and desalination are like oxymoron words, heavy on the ‘moron,’” Heasley said. “We don’t do desalination in inner harbors, certainly not in petrochemical ship channels, if we’re trying to make potable water for a city.”
Heasley also raised concerns about the potential environmental impacts of piping desalination brine and effluent into the bay.
The Inner Harbor proposal was, he said, an attempt to get residents to “pay for somebody else’s water plant.”
The focus should instead be on managing the freshwater already available, Heasley said.
He’s a proponent for developing pump stations at Labonte Park and in the Bluntzer area that would be able to pump water from rains between the lake and the bay, directing the water back into the lake.
Another potential idea are floating solar panels, Heasley said, which mitigate evaporation while also generating power.
Another factor to running for office were the findings in Guajardo’s removal hearing and “corruption going on in our government,” he said.
The council tribunal in August had reached findings that Guajardo had committed three violations of “misconduct, malfeasance, incompetence, or inability or willful neglect of performance of her official duties” related to a $2 million tax incentive for a downtown Homewood Suites hotel.
She has denied all wrongdoing.
Heasley described “corruption that’s killing our city” and vowed that, if elected, he would address it.
“Our city is not going to heal and it’s not going to get better until we get rid all of those problems,” he said.
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
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