Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope Will Not Seek A 4th Term

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Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope announced on Friday that he will not be running for reelection as Mayor of Lubbock. Pope made the announcement through a video posted on Facebook. Since he was first elected, Pope has utilized social media and video to get announcements and updates to citizens of Lubbock.

In the video and email that was sent out, Pope said that he arrived at his decision after much "thought, prayer, and reflection".

Happy Friday, Mayor Dan Pope, with an important update. I have decided not to run for a fourth term as Lubbock Mayor next May. This decision was arrived at after much thought, prayer, and reflection. I’m thankful for the listening ear and wise counsel of close friends and my wife, Denise, as I reached this decision. I believe a government closest to the people functions best. City governments are far from perfect - to that, I certainly can attest. However, our record is significant over the past six years, and we’ve made great strides in Lubbock. I serve with a fantastic City Council working together with each of you. We have moved our community forward.

The three-term Mayor was first elected in 2016, then again in 2018, and 2020. In Lubbock, the Mayor serves a two-year term while other members of the Lubbock City Council are elected to four-year terms. The length of terms was something debated recently among a citizens committee that resulted in no changes to term lengths.

While Mayor Dan Pope was reelected to a third term in office, his opponent, a relatively unknown candidate at the time who dealt with controversy was able to receive 43.8 of the vote.

Pope did not address whether or not he will run for State Representative in Texas House District 84, though there has been speculation that he was considering a campaign for the Texas House at one time.