Little Rock Vice Mayor Lance Hines, the Ward 5 representative on the city board, filed paperwork Thursday to run for a fourth term during the November election, according to the Little Rock city clerk's office.
The election for the Ward 5 seat, along with five other seats on the city board tied to geographic wards, will take place Nov. 8.
Additionally, the initial round of the mayoral race will be on the ballot at that time. If no mayoral candidate receives at least 40% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two will be held Dec. 6.
Winners will serve four-year terms that begin Jan. 1.
Hines on Thursday shared a photo on Twitter that showed him with election paperwork.
"It's official," the caption said. "I have filed my petition for re-election to be your Little Rock City Director for Ward 5."
Since the city's filing period opened July 29, one other person has filed paperwork to run for the Ward 5 seat. Mazhil Vannan Rajendran, 52, submitted paperwork on the first day of the filing period.
Prospective candidates must file by noon Aug. 19 if they want to stand for election Nov. 8. City staff also have to verify their qualifications.
The city board's three at-large positions as well as the seat representing Ward 4 were last on the ballot in 2020 and therefore will not be contested this election cycle.
An employee of logistics company Priority1, Hines has served on the city board since 2011. He was most recently reelected in 2018.
Hines is a registered Republican, according to the Arkansas secretary of state's office.
The November election will be the first time voters in Little Rock elect city board members following last year's redistricting effort tied to the 2020 census.
City board members approved new ward boundaries in December to account for population shifts that occurred since the previous decennial count.
Ward 5 encompasses the northwest corner of Little Rock. Under the new ward boundaries, its population of 29,857 is approximately 68% white, 16% Black and 3% Hispanic, according to the city's website.
Its share of white residents is the second-highest among the city's seven wards after Ward 3. Residents of the north-central ward represented by City Director Kathy Webb are roughly 76% white, according to the city.
Hines was a frequent critic of former Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey, who led the Police Department under the administration of Mayor Frank Scott Jr. for just more than three years before resigning in May.
In late 2020, Hines submitted a symbolic resolution expressing no confidence in Humphrey for the city board's consideration.
However, he ultimately chose to withdraw the measure during a Dec. 29, 2020, meeting after other board members signaled they would vote against it.
In January 2021, city board members tapped Hines to serve a two-year term as vice mayor; he previously held the role from 2015 to 2017.
Earlier this year, Hines drew criticism from two of his colleagues, at-large City Director Antwan Phillips and Ward 2 City Director Ken Richardson, for a remark during a debate over a proposed resolution declaring violence to be a public health emergency.
At the Feb. 1 meeting, Hines described the "holistic approach" to addressing violence via community-intervention programs as "hug-a-thug," adding that "it has never worked."
He issued an apology the following day.