Tuesday afternoon, Lubbock Mayor Dan Pope officially kicked off his re-election campaign.

Pope was first elected mayor in May 2016, and, so far, he will be running unopposed in the May 2018 municipal election.

During Tuesday's announcement, Mayor Pope touted the two budgets passed unanimously by the city council, without raising taxes. "In both cases with a 7-0 vote, that means we have been able to work as a group to reach a budget that we can all get behind," Mayor Pope said. "And we've done it without raising tax rates. We promised to quit swiping the credit card issuing debt; to learn to say 'no'. We've delivered that I believe."

Additionally, during the announcement the mayor touted Lubbock's strong economy over the past two years, adding over 3,100 jobs. He also mentioned that the Lubbock Police Department is fully staffed at 100 percent: 433 budgeted officers and 433 officers on-staff. 10 additional officers will be added in the 2017-18 budget.

Pope's 2018 campaign kickoff was held at Tom & Bingo's BBQ. Before serving as Lubbock's mayor, Pope served multiple terms on the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees.

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