Alief Independent School District elections (2017)
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Four of seven seats on the Alief Independent School District board of trustees in Texas were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. No incumbents filed for re-election, leaving four open seats and guaranteeing newcomers would make up a majority of the board.
In Position 4, newcomer Darlene Breaux defeated newcomer Jesus Zamora. Newcomer John Nguyen defeated newcomer Donald Murphy Guillory in the race for the Position 5 seat. The Position 6 seat drew newcomers Anton Dowls and Jennifer Key, with Key defeating Dowls. In Position 7, Natasha Butler defeated Janet Spurlock, and Soren Valverde[1][2]
Guillory and Butler participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Alief Independent School District board of trustees consists of seven members elected at large to staggered four-year terms.[3] The general election for Positions 4, 5, 6, and 7 was scheduled for November 7, 2017.
Candidates were required to file for election by August 21, 2017. Each candidate had to be at least 18 years old, a registered voter, a resident of the state for at least 12 months, and a resident of the district for at least six months.[4]
To cast a ballot in the election, citizens had to register to vote by October 10, 2017. For information on the voter identification requirements in Texas, please click here.
Candidates and results
Position 4
Results
| Alief Independent School District, Position 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Darlene Breaux |
72.92% | 2,246 |
| Jesus Zamora | 27.08% | 834 |
| Total Votes | 3,080 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Darlene Breaux 
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Jesus Zamora | ||
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Position 5
Results
| Alief Independent School District, Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| John Nguyen |
58.85% | 1,829 |
| Donald Murphy Guillory | 41.15% | 1,279 |
| Total Votes | 3,108 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017 | ||
Candidates
This symbol, 
, next to a candidate's name indicates his or her participation in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. Click the image next to a candidate's name to jump to their page detailing their responses.
| Donald Murphy Guillory
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John Nguyen
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Position 6
Results
| Alief Independent School District, Position 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jennifer Key |
73.44% | 2,254 |
| Anton Dowls | 26.56% | 815 |
| Total Votes | 3,069 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Anton Dowls | Jennifer Key
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Position 7
Results
| Alief Independent School District, Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Natasha Butler |
38.67% | 1,210 |
| Janet Spurlock | 38.32% | 1,199 |
| Soren Valverde | 23.01% | 720 |
| Total Votes | 3,129 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017 | ||
Candidates
This symbol, , next to a candidate's name indicates his or her participation in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. Click the image next to a candidate's name to jump to their page detailing their responses.
| Natasha Butler
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Janet Spurlock | Soren Valverde | |||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Texas elections, 2017
The Alief Independent School District was scheduled to share the ballot with seven statewide ballot measures.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Texas school board election in 2017:[5][6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| August 21, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| October 10, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote |
| October 10, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (30th day report) |
| October 30, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (8th day report) |
| October 23, 2017 - November 3, 2017 | Early voting period |
| November 7, 2017 | General election date |
| January 16, 2018 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (July semiannual report) |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
There were three campaign finance deadlines for Texas school board candidates in 2017:[6]
- The 30th day report was due on October 10, 2017,
- The 8th day report was due on October 30, 2017, and
- The January semiannual report was due on January 16, 2018.
All school board candidates in the state were required to file January semiannual campaign finance reports. Opposed school board candidates could choose "modified reporting" if they did not plan to exceed either $500 in contributions or $500 in expenditures in the election. Modified reporting exempts a candidate from filing the 30th and 8th day reports normally due before an election. If a candidate opted for modified reporting but exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, he or she had to file the 30th and 8th day reports. Unopposed school board candidates were only required to file a campaign finance report on the January semiannual deadline.[7]
Past elections
To see results from past elections in the Alief Independent School District, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Guillory and Butler.
Hope to achieve
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Guillory stated:
| “ | Great Education Harmony Safe environment for kids. Best Buses.[8] | ” |
| —Donald Murphy Guillory (October 26, 2017) | ||
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Butler stated:
| “ | If elected, I will advocate for early childhood education, Health and Wellness, Fine Arts Programs, After School Programs, Livable Wages for all staff, Retirement Funding, and STEM Programs.[8] | ” |
| —Natasha Butler (October 17, 2017) | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | |||||||
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| Issue | Guillory ranking (Position 5) | Perrett ranking (Position 7) | |||||
| Expanding arts education | |||||||
| Improving relations with teachers | |||||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |||||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |||||||
| Closing the achievement gap | |||||||
| Improving education for special needs students | |||||||
| Expanding school choice options | |||||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer eight multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
About the district
- See also: Alief Independent School District, Texas
Alief Independent School District is located in Southeast Texas in Harris County. The county seat is Houston. The county was home to an estimated 4,589,928 residents from 2010 to 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the 23rd-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 47,202 students.[10]
Demographics
Harris County overperformed in comparison to the rest of Texas in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.6 percent of state residents. The median household income in Harris County was $54,457, while it was $53,207 for Texas. The county poverty rate was 16.6 percent, compared to the state's 15.6 percent.[9]
| Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Harris County (%) | Texas (%) |
| White | 70.0 | 79.4 |
| Black or African American | 19.7 | 12.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Asian | 7.2 | 4.6 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.9 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 42.4 | 39.1 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Alief Independent School District Texas election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Alief Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Marielle Bricker, "Email communication with Edith Williams," September 6, 2017
- ↑ Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," accessed November 22, 2017
- ↑ Alief Independent School District, "Board Members Elections," accessed September 28, 2017
- ↑ Alief Independent School District, "Board Members Eligibility/Qualifications," accessed September 28, 2017
- ↑ Vote Texas, "Important 2017 Election Dates," accessed August 21, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Texas Ethics Commission, "2017 Filing Schedule for Reports Due in Connection with Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed August 21, 2017
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File with Local Filing Authorities," accessed March 28, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 United States Census Bureau, "Harris County, Texas," accessed September 26, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Alief Independent School District elections in 2017 | |
| Harris County, Texas | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Position 4: Darlene Breaux • Jesus Zamora Position 5: Donald Murphy Guillory • John Nguyen Position 6: Anton Dowls • Jennifer Key Position 7: Natasha Butler • Janet Spurlock • Soren Valverde |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
