Mayoral Succession

The DE looks at on Mayor Cole's aspirations to statewide office and local pundits' handicapping of the same. In the final paragraph, the DE says:

Cole was reelected to the office of mayor in 2007 for a four-year term that will expire in 2011. If he vacated his seat early in the event of a winning campaign, mayor pro tem Corene McDaniel would serve as acting mayor.

I was told this once before by someone and it's not quite correct. From my reading of the appropriate statues (and what I was told when I checked), if Mayor Cole resigns his office, the city council members then elect one of their number (maybe Corene McDaniel, maybe not) to serve as acting mayor until the 2012 election. The acting mayor would then select someone, with the advice and consent of the remaining council, to take their position on the council.

If Jack, Pohlman or Haynes were selected as acting mayor, their replacement would stand for election as normal in 2012. If one of the other three were chosen, a special election would be called in 2012, with the winner seving out the remaining two years of the term. Be that as it may, under state law, the mayor pro tiem does not automatically take the mayor's position if the mayor resigns.