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BASTROP — Early voting is underway for Bastrop’s May 3 special mayoral election, with three candidates vying to complete an unexpired term.
Willie DeLaRosa, Ward Northcutt and Ishmael Harris are seeking the position following the sudden and contentious resignation of former Mayor Lyle Nelson in January. The winner will serve a one-year term to finish the remainder of Nelson’s tenure.
DeLaRosa has served the city for nearly 30 years as a council member and mayor pro tem.
His candidacy has not been without controversy. In 2017, former Councilwoman Kay McAnally called for DeLaRosa’s removal as mayor pro tem after he resigned his council seat to run for mayor.
He said the move was political, not personal, and the proposal was not upheld. He lost that mayoral bid to Connie Schroeder, who went on to serve two terms. DeLaRosa also previously served on the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation board.
Northcutt is a retired police lieutenant with more than three decades of law enforcement experience. He has served as a precinct chair for the Bastrop County Republican Party but is running as a nonpartisan candidate.
He has worked on state and local campaigns for other political candidates and remains active in the community through church groups, senior programs and youth leadership roles.
Harris has served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for six years and has chaired the commission for more than a year.
He ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2019 but stayed involved in civic activities. Over the past two years, Harris has helped organize the city’s Mardi Gras festival, served as vice chair of the Bastrop Juneteenth Celebration and acted as livestock coordinator for the Lost Pines Lighted Christmas Parade.
Neither DeLaRosa nor Northcutt submitted a candidate questionnaire to bastropvotes.org, where additional election information is available.
Early voting concludes April 29.
