b'C o m m u n i t y2020 PRODUCED LEVELS OF POLITICAL TUMULT that few of us are anxious to re-peatat the presidential level, for control of the U.S. Senate that was determined by two runoff elections in Georgia, and even in the race for Corpus Christi Mayor. In a campaign season delayed and cut short by Covid lockdowns, the open field for mayor did not become clear until the week of the filing deadline in August. Incumbent Joe McComb, who won the special election for mayor in 2017 after Dan McQueen resigned on Facebook a month into his reign, and was then reelected in 2018, looked to cruise to victory in 2020 without a serious challenge.His hopes were dashed when two high-profile opponents filed days before the deadline, both former political allies who had clearly separated themselves from McComb over the course ofwho still refused to commit to fixing the flooding problem by building a canal, or by any other the prior year. Corpus Christi Councilperson-At-Large Paulette Guajardo, who had securedmeans. Going into the December runoff, conventional wisdom placed the odds in favor of the the most city-wide votes for Council in the 2018 election, and Nueces County Precinct 1 Com-missioner Carolyn Vaughn, who had previously served on City Council, tossed their out-sizedreelection of Joe McComb, assuming conservative votes for Vaughn would automatically slide in hats into the ring, completing the ballot of nine candidates in the non-partisan election forhis directionwhat was underestimated was the number of highly-motivated voters who were Mayor of Corpus Christi. fed up with the good ole boy system that for decades has passed around public contracts and Calallen resident Vaughn, like McComb, is an outspoken conservative Republican who is bestfavors to friends and supporters. It was perceived by many who were outspoken in favor of a known for her public bout with Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales over a proclamation inNorth Beach canal that McComb was against the project because it was not earmarked for one support of LGBT Pride Month, back in 2019. Vaughn also chaired the City of Corpus Christisof his favored contractors.North Beach Infrastructure Task Force, serving alongside developer Jeff Blackard, who pub- On top of Guajardos message that she would serve as a full time mayor, as opposed to Mc-licly fought with McComb for months over the flooding problems on North Beach and theCombs detached approach to city leadership, she hammered him for benefitting from a $65,000 prospect of a Riverwalk-style canal. Above all, North Beach was the single motivating issue indonation from Fulton Construction through a political action committee and to his campaign. Vaughns friendly-fire campaign against McComb in the general election for mayor. A week after the general election, on November 10th, the FBI executed search warrants on the After coming in a distant third behind McComb and Guajardo, Vaughn, who split the conser- office of Fulton Construction Company and at the home of CCISD board member John Longoria. vative vote by opposing McComb, could not bring herself to endorse Guajardo in the runoff,While no official statement has been issued by either of the parties involved or the feds, public despite her vocal support for fixing the storm drainage problem on North Beach. In frontrecords show that Fulton has been awarded over $500 million in contracts by the school board of a meeting of North Beach property owners, Vaughn threw her endorsement to McComb,since 2009, most as the only bidder.TheCoastalBend.com THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE37'