May 2, 2026 – City Secretary Natalie Burling reports that a runoff will be needed for both Place 6 and Place 7 of the Sulphur Springs City Council after the May 2 election did not produce a clear winner in each seat. A candidate must receive more than 50% of the cast votes to be declared the winner and as there were multiple candidates in each election (3 for Place 6, and 4 for Place 7) no candidate received the required votes to be declared an outright winner.
The City of Sulphur Springs will now hold a Runoff Election for each place with the top two candidates from either place appearing on the Runoff Ballot. Incumbent Tyler Law will face James Schumacher, as Law recieved 36.23% of the 828 votes cast coming in second to Schumacher who received 46.50% of votes cast for Place 6. Place 7 had four candidates on the May 2nd ballot, with Seth McDaniel receiving 42.48% of the 824 total votes and Tiffany Gebel receiving 35.56% of total votes cast.
The hotly contested race for city council drew multiple candidates for each place but suffered from very low voter turnout. Early voting garnered more than 500 votes for the city council spots with election day votes just barely half that. Combined with abstentee voting, 828 voters cast a vote for Place 6, with 824 votes cast in Place 7.
The current city council members meet Tuesday May 5 for a regular meeting and will set the dates for the upcoming runoff election for both Place 6 and Place 7.
