BEAUMONT, Texas — Longtime NAACP-Beaumont chapter leader and pastor says he will be running for the Beaumont Council At-Large seat.
Michael Cooper announced his run Thursday at the R.C. Miller Memorial Library in Beaumont.
Cooper is pastor for The Church of I Am.
He says he wants to "paint Beaumont new."
One big thing on Cooper's agenda is further developing downtown Beaumont in order to pave the way for more businesses.
"Where you have a city square, have a meeting place in the city where it's always some type of activity going on," Cooper said. "Our downtown is not setup that way. We need to set it up, maybe tear down of those old buildings and the reset it up with a square."
Council members AJ Turner and Randy Deldschau currently hold the 2 At-Large seats.
Election day is Saturday, May 6, 2023.
In 2021, Cooper announced he was running for governor of Texas.
He's a former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor and the US Senate. The local pastor has deep roots in Southeast Texas.
Cooper is also well known for his longtime career as automotive executive manager.
