Brownsville Independent School District elections (2016)
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Four of the seven seats on the Brownsville Independent School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. In the race for Position 3, incumbent Herman Powers Jr. faced challengers Josette Cruz, Phillip Cowen, Argelia Miller, and Jorge Valdez. Position 5 incumbent Caty Presas ran against three challengers: Erasmo Castro, Laura Castro, and Laura Perez-Reyes. State District Judge Elia Cornejo Lopez filed in the race but withdrew her candidacy on August 24, 2016.[1] Incumbent Minerva Peña faced challengers Rhonda Cavazos, Anna Hernandez-Oquin, Roberto Uresti, and Kent Whittemore for Position 6. Lastly, four challengers filed in the Position 7 race against incumbent Jose Chirinos: Sylvia Perez Atkinson, Rigo Bocanegra, Norberto Rangel, and Orlando Carlos Treviño. Cowen, Perez-Reyes, Peña, and Atkinson won election to their respective seats.[2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees consists of seven members elected at large to four-year terms. The filing period for Texas school board candidates running in fall elections started on July 23, 2016. The final day for candidates to file their applications for ballot placement was August 22, 2016. A candidate for school board in Texas must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the school district. The application for ballot placement also states that candidates cannot have felony convictions or court judgments verifying total mental incapacity on their records.[3]
The deadline to register to vote for the November election was October 11, 2016. The early voting period started on October 24, 2016, and concluded on November 4, 2016.[4]
Candidates and results
Position 3
Results
| Brownsville Independent School District, Position 3 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Phillip Cowen |
27.99% | 9,323 |
| Herman Powers Jr. Incumbent | 27.55% | 9,175 |
| Jorge Valdez | 23.89% | 7,956 |
| Argelia Miller | 12.03% | 4,008 |
| Josette Cruz | 8.55% | 2,847 |
| Total Votes | 33,309 | |
| Source: Cameron County, Texas, "General Election," accessed December 15, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Herman Powers Jr. | Josette Cruz | Phillip Cowen 
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| Argelia Miller | Jorge Valdez | ||
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Position 5
Results
| Brownsville Independent School District, Position 5 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Laura Perez-Reyes |
35.32% | 11,861 |
| Erasmo Castro | 32.46% | 10,901 |
| Caty Presas-Garcia Incumbent | 17.78% | 5,971 |
| Laura Castro | 14.43% | 4,845 |
| Total Votes | 33,578 | |
| Source: Cameron County, Texas, "General Election," accessed December 15, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Caty Presas | Erasmo Castro | ||
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| Laura Castro | Laura Perez-Reyes
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Position 6
Results
| Brownsville Independent School District, Position 6 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Minerva Peña Incumbent |
36.16% | 12,051 |
| Kent Whittemore | 24.71% | 8,236 |
| Roberto Uresti | 20.13% | 6,708 |
| Anna Hernandez-Oquin | 10.74% | 3,580 |
| Rhonda Cavazos | 8.26% | 2,752 |
| Total Votes | 33,327 | |
| Source: Cameron County, Texas, "General Election," accessed December 15, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Minerva Peña
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Rhonda Cavazos | Anna Hernandez-Oquin | |||
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| Roberto Uresti | Kent Whittemore | ||
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Position 7
Results
| Brownsville Independent School District, Position 7 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Sylvia Perez Atkinson |
39.59% | 13,217 |
| Jose Chirinos Incumbent | 22.87% | 7,635 |
| Rigo Bocanegra | 22.30% | 7,446 |
| Orlando Carlos Treviño | 9.72% | 3,244 |
| Norberto Rangel | 5.52% | 1,842 |
| Total Votes | 33,384 | |
| Source: Cameron County, Texas, "General Election," accessed December 15, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Jose Chirinos | Sylvia Perez Atkinson
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Rigo Bocanegra | |||
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| Norberto Rangel | Orlando Carlos Treviño | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Texas elections, 2016
Texas school board elections appeared on the ballot with races for U.S. president, U.S. House, state senate, state house, state courts, and local courts. These elections shared the ballot with statewide ballot measures.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Texas school board elections in 2016:[5]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 23, 2016 | First day of candidate filing period |
| August 22, 2016 | Deadline for candidate filing |
| October 11, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 24, 2016 | First day of early voting in person |
| October 31, 2016 | Deadline for final pre-election campaign finance report |
| November 4, 2016 | Final day of early voting in person |
| November 8, 2016 | General election |
| November 22, 2016 | Deadline for completion of vote canvassing |
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
Texas campaign ethics laws require school board candidates with opponents to file finance reports with their school district or county elections office. Candidates were required to file a pre-election report on October 11, 2016. The final campaign filing deadline prior to the November 2016 general election was October 31, 2016.[6]
What was at stake?
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About the district
Brownsville Independent School District is located in Cameron County, Texas. The county seat of Cameron County is Brownsville. Cameron County was home to 422,156 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] The district was the 19th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 49,370 students.[8]
Demographics
Cameron County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Texas in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 16.1 percent of Cameron County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.1 percent for Texas as a whole. The median household income in Cameron County was $33,390, compared to $52,576 for the state of Texas. The poverty rate in Cameron County was 34.5 percent, compared to 15.9 percent for the entire state.[7]
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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 'Brownsville Independent School District' 'Texas'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Brownsville Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
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Footnotes
- ↑ The Brownsville Herald, "Judge withdraws from BISD race," August 24, 2016
- ↑ The Brownsville Herald, "Twenty file for BISD trustee positions," August 23, 2016
- ↑ Clint Independent School District, "Board Member Elections 2016," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ El Paso County Elections Department, "Important Dates: 2016 General Election," May 12, 2016
- ↑ Texas Association of School Boards, "November 8, 2016 Election Calendar and FAQ," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "2016 Filing Schedule for Reports Due in Connection with Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Cameron County, Texas," accessed October 5, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Cameron County," accessed December 31, 2014
