A hearing to remove Mayor Paulette Guajardo (Nonpartisan) is underway in Corpus Christi, Texas, the 58th largest city in the country by population. One other mayor in the 100 largest cities, Vi Lyles (D-Charlotte, N.C.), has left office early this year. 

The Corpus Christi City Council voted 5-3 on March 24 to begin the removal process and 5-2 on April 14 to move forward with it. 

 Hearings in the removal proceedings began on July 22 and continued on July 23. 

The mayor of Corpus Christi is part of the city council. The city’s charter says that a majority vote of all council members, excluding the challenged member, is required to remove a member from office. The charter also says that in the event of a vacancy in the mayor’s office, the at-large city council member who received the most votes in the last election will become the mayor. In this case, that member is Carolyn Vaughn, who received 17.2%, or 32,974 votes, in the 2024 general election.

A group of citizens, including multiple-time city council candidate Rachel Caballero, filed a petition with the city council to remove Guajardo in August 2025. The petition alleged that in April 2024, Guajardo used an altered map in a presentation to the city council to get them to award $2 million in tax incentives for a hotel development project.

The petition states, “Paulette Guajardo pushed for approvals so that her friend / campaign contributor, by use of an altered FEMA/federal document, would get $2,000,000.00 of taxpayer money - and Paulette Guajardo did so with full knowledge of FEMA/federal document had been altered/tampered/forged. This is ‘misconduct’ and ‘malfeasance’ on the part of Paulette Guajardo.[sic] and thus ground for removal.”

In March 2026, Guajardo told the Corpus Christi Caller Times that she “would urge the Council to dismiss the complaint” and “it has no legal or factual merit.” Guajardo said, “The matter has been examined and rejected by multiple law enforcement agencies, and it represents an irresponsible use of public funds." 

In April, Guajardo sued the city and the five council members who voted to advance the process, asking U.S. District Court Judge George Hanks Jr. to block the removal process from continuing. In her complaint, Guajardo alleged that the removal process violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. She also said the process was a retaliation against her use of her First Amendment rights. On July 15, Hanks denied Guajardo’s request for an injunction and dismissed the case, allowing the removal process to continue. 

Guajardo appealed Hanks’ decision, and on July 21, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied her motion to stay the proceeding.

The last mayor of one of the country’s 100 most populous cities to be removed from office was former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao, who voters recalled 60.6% to 39.4% on Nov. 5, 2024. Thao was one of two mayors in this group to leave office early in 2025. The other was Hialeah, Florida, Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr., who left office on May 27, 2025, to take a job in D.C. 

Corpus Christi is one of 22 cities in the country’s 100 most populous holding mayoral elections this year. Guajardo has said she intends to run for re-election. The filing deadline for the election is Aug. 17. 

Other recent municipal news from America’s 100 most populous cities

• On July 21, Chandler, Arizona, held a nonpartisan primary for mayor. Matt Orlando, endorsed by local Democratic groups, leads Jeff Weninger, a Republican state legislator. The city's current term-limited mayor, Kevin Harkey, is a Republican. One mayoral office in one of the 100 largest cities had changed party hands so far this year. In Irving, Texas, Albert Zapanta (Unaffiliated) was elected to succeed Rick Stopfer (R) on May 2.
• On July 7, Todd Johnson was sworn in as mayor of Pierre, South Dakota. Johnson defeated incumbent Steve Harding in the mayoral election on June 2. Harding was the first incumbent mayor of a state capital to lose a bid for re-election this year. No incumbents in the nation’s 100 most populous cities have lost bids for re-election so far this year. 

Click here to learn more about mayoral elections in 2026.