Magnolia Has a New Mayor: Meet Chris Blair and Your City Council

Magnolia voters went to the polls on May 2, 2026 and chose Chris Blair as the city's next mayor. He led a three-way race with about 45 percent of the vote — and because Magnolia decides its city races by plurality, that was enough to win outright, with no runoff. Blair takes the gavel at a moment of real turnover at City Hall, following a stretch of upheaval in city leadership, and he has framed his term squarely around steadier, more open government.

Who Chris Blair is.

Blair ran as a longtime Magnolia resident and a small-business owner of more than two decades — a background he leaned on throughout the campaign, casting himself as a manager and problem-solver rather than a career politician. He campaigned on what he called the need for "better planning" as the city grows, and on the idea that "our community deserves transparent leadership, smarter development, improved public safety, and a stronger voice for every resident."

One of his more specific campaign positions was structural: Blair proposed separating the City Council from the Planning and Zoning function and barring planning members from profiting while in office — a direct nod to keeping conflicts of interest out of how Magnolia grows. Whether that idea moves from campaign plank to council action is one of the early things worth watching.

The council he'll work with.

A mayor in a Texas general-law city like Magnolia doesn't govern alone — most decisions are made by the City Council as a body, and the council hires the administrator who runs the city day to day. The May election filled two of the five council seats: incumbent Brandon Jacobs held Position 4 in a race that came down to a handful of votes, and Raymond K. Gaskin III won Position 5 comfortably. Here's the full table as Magnolia's government stands today.

Your Magnolia City Hall, 2026

• Mayor Chris Blair — Elected May 2, 2026

  Reach via City Hall, 281-356-2266, or the city's officials directory.

• Position 1 Caleb Small

  csmall@cityofmagnolia.com · 936-548-7524

• Position 2 Buck Perino

  Reach via City Hall, 281-356-2266, or the city's officials directory.

• Position 3 Geoff Beyer

  Reach via City Hall, 281-356-2266, or the city's officials directory.

• Position 4 Brandon Jacobs — Re-elected May 2026

  Reach via City Hall, 281-356-2266, or the city's officials directory.

• Position 5 Raymond K. Gaskin III — Newly elected May 2026

  rgaskin@cityofmagnolia.com · 936-548-6684

Direct emails and phone numbers shown are from the city's published officials directory. Where a direct line isn't shown here, reach the member through City Hall.

Day-to-day operations currently run through an interim city administrator while the new council settles in — a normal step during a leadership transition, and a sign that some of the city's staffing questions are still being worked out.

How the vote came in.

May 2, 2026 — City of Magnolia

• Mayor

  Chris Blair 45.4% · Jonny Williams ~33% · Jack L. Huitt Jr. ~21%

• Council, Position 4

  Brandon Jacobs (incumbent) 50.53% (237 votes) edged Todd Kana 49.47% (232) — a 5-vote margin

• Council, Position 5

  Raymond K. Gaskin III 73.81% (327) over Keith D. Haberstroh 26.19% (116)

For a city Magnolia's size, these are small-electorate races — the kind decided by hundreds of votes, where a single neighborhood turning out can swing a seat. That's worth remembering the next time someone says one vote doesn't matter: in the Position 4 race this spring, a few of them decided who sits on the council.

How to actually be heard at City Hall.

The Magnolia City Council meets on the second Tuesday of each month at City Hall, 18111 Buddy Riley Blvd., in the Sewall Smith Council Chambers, with a public-comment period near the top of the agenda. Agendas are posted on the city's website at least 72 hours ahead, so you can see what's coming and sign up to speak before you go. If you've never been, that's the room where water rates, roads, permits, and how Magnolia grows actually get decided — and the new mayor has said he wants more residents in it.

Editor's note on format — We ran this as a straight explainer rather than a two-view piece because the election outcome, the roster, and the council's meeting process are matters of public record, not contested opinion. Quotations from Mayor Blair are drawn from his campaign materials and a candidate questionnaire published before the election.