Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo and District 5 Councilman Gil Hernandez are headed to a runoff election to decide who will serve as the citys next mayor.Neither candidate secured enough support Tuesday to end the race out right, setting up another month of campaigning before the Dec. 12 runoff. Guajardo, Hernandez headed to runoff for Corpus Christi mayorGuajardo, who is seeking a fourth term as mayor, was upbeat as the results came in.I'm super excited... I mean the numbers are wonderful... Guajardo said.Hernandez said he entered Election Day expecting the mayoral contest to advance to a runoff.I fully expected the top 2 candidates to be in a runoff and I was expecting to be number 2, Hernandez said.Both candidates have runoff experienceA runoff is familiar territory for both candidates.Guajardo faced a runoff during her previous campaign for mayor, while Hernandez has gone through runoffs in races for his District 5 City Council seat.Hernandez said those past races have helped shape his strategy for the next several weeks, although he is not revealing the details yet.Well I'm gonna keep those close to the vest. But we do have a plan based on the experiences that I had previously in that runoff and I think we're going to do well.Removal hearing adds another layer to mayor's raceThe matchup also comes with a history between the two City Council members.Hernandez was one of two council members who voted to remove Guajardo as mayor after voting that she had committed misconduct, malfeasance or willful neglect of her duties.When asked about the possibility of facing Hernandez directly in the runoff following that vote, Guajardo said her campaign is ready.We're going to go 110%. Our team is already gearing up regardless of who the opponent is. If it's Gil Hernandez, it's Gil Hernandez we say bring it on. Let's go head to head and let's move forward. This is a part of the process. If that's where it ends we're going to be ready. We have a very strong team and I'm excited and I'll be looking forward to that.Guajardo and Hernandez will now have roughly another month to make their case to Corpus Christi voters.The runoff election is scheduled for Dec. 12.For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App. Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today! ...read more read less