Dead man elected mayor of Texas city

Maypearl City Council to appoint new official with Philip Veltman having died in March

Philip Veltman (Courtesy of Boze-Mitchell-McKibbin Funeral Home)

A city in the US state of Texas has elected a dead man to be its new mayor.

Maypearl, in Ellis county, faces the task of appointing a new mayor with victor Philip Veltman, 71, having died on 15 March after having filed to run for office.

Mr Veltman, who died from complications relating to leukaemia, received 68 of the 110 votes cast. John Wayne Pruitt received 42 in Sunday's poll, according to the local election board.

The city council in Maypearl, which had a population of 934 in the last US census in 2010, is now tasked with appointing a new mayor. Discussions over the new official will take place at the next council meeting on 13 May.

A new election could take place, but Maypearl officials will consult with Texas state about the next steps in what is an unprecedented situation for the city.

Mr Veltman was born in Indiana before moving to Dallas, Texas early in his life. He was a teacher for 12 years after graduating college before beginning a 30-year career with soft-drink manufacturer Dr. Pepper, according to an obituary by Boze-Mitchell-Mckibbin funeral home.

Mr Veltman moved to Maypearl in 1990 and among other things he spent nine years on the local school board.

The Texas mayor is not the first person to have been voted into office after having died. In the midterm elections last year Nevada brothel owner and reality TV star Dennis Hof won a state assembly seat having died a few weeks before on 16 October.

Chuck Muth, his campaign manager, tweeted in the wake of that victory: “My man Dennis Hof crushed his opponent from the great beyond... so I'm celebrating.”

In Congress, Democrat Mel Carnahan won a Senate seat in Missouri in 2000 over current Republican incumbent John Ashcroft. Mr Carnaham died in a plane crash on his way to a campaign event three weeks before the November election. His eldest son and a political advisor also died in the crash.

Mr Carnaham's widow, Jean, who finished his campaign was appointed to a two-year term in the Senate before a special election was held in 2002.