Amarillo City Council Place 4 Candidates Looking to Break 70 Year Streak

Les Simpson, Claudette Smith, Hobert Brown, and John Ingerson/Photos by campaigns and Inspire Amarillo (Ingerson)

When voters head to the polls tomorrow, they will see two candidates on their ballot who are hoping to achieve something that no candidate has done in Amarillo in over 70 years.

Amarillo City Council, Place 4 candidates John Ingerson and Claudette Smith are both making their third bids for city office this year. Ingerson previously ran for Amarillo City Council, Place 3 in 2011 and 2015, while Smith ran for mayor in 2019 and 2021. Both candidates are hoping to become only the second candidate in Amarillo history to win an election for city office after losing their first two bids for a seat on the Amarillo City Council.

According to City of Amarillo records, only one candidate in the city’s history ran twice unsuccessfully for a seat on the Amarillo City Council — then referred to as the City Commission — and won their third bid for office. Fancher Upshaw, Sr. was the only person to achieve this feat when he won his election for Amarillo City Commission, Place 2 in April 1953.

In 1953, Upshaw defeated E.R. Goforth to win the Place 2 seat on the Amarillo City Commission, winning 59 percent of the vote. Upshaw had previously run for mayor in 1939 and 1941, losing to Ross Rogers in his first bid and Joe A. Jenkins in his second bid for office. In 1945, while Upshaw was not a candidate for mayor, he did receive some write-in votes.

According to his obituary, Upshaw was the founder of the Upshaw Insurance Company in Amarillo. In between his bids for city office, Upshaw was elected to the Amarillo school board. In addition, Upshaw also served as president of the Amarillo Symphony.

Both Ingerson and Smith are facing Les Simpson, a former Amarillo Globe-News publisher, and Hobert “Gunny” Brown, a United States Marine Corps veteran, in this year’s election. Brown, himself, is making his second for city office this year, after previously running for Amarillo City Council in 2021.

According to past election results, the last candidate who attempted a third bid for city office after losing their previous two campaigns for City Council was Jim Brokenbek, who ran for mayor in 2011 after unsuccessfully running in 2007 and 2009.