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Erica de la Garza-Lopez
Erica de la Garza-Lopez was the Place 4 incumbent on the McAllen Board of Trustees in Texas. She lost her re-election bid in the general election on May 9, 2015.
Biography
De la Garza-Lopez graduated from McAllen Memorial High School. She has her bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and her master's degree from the University of Texas-Pan American. She is a senior territory business manager for Mead Johnson Nutrition. She and her husband, Marcos, have three children.[1]
Elections
2015
The general election on May 9, 2015, in the McAllen Independent School District featured four seats up for election. In the Place 1 race, four challengers competed for the seat since incumbent Debbie Crane Aliseda did not file for re-election. They were Maricruz Del Villar Abbott, Dalinda Gonzalez Alcantar, Enedelia Olivarez and Marco Suarez. Place 2 incumbent Hilda Garza-DeShazo faced Conrado Alvarado and Don Delaney. In the Place 4 race, incumbent Erica de la Garza-Lopez competed against Tony Forina. Place 5 incumbent Daniel Vela ran unopposed.
Results
| McAllen Independent School District, Place 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Tony Forina |
53.3% | 4,378 | |
| Nonpartisan | Erica de la Garza-Lopez Incumbent | 46.7% | 3,831 | |
| Total Votes | 8,209 | |||
| Source: Hidalgo County Clerk, "Mcallen I.s.d.- May 9, 2015 Election: Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015 | ||||
Funding
De la Garza-Lopez began the race with an existing account balance of $6,441.12 from her previous campaign. She reported $4,500 in contributions and $9,250.36 in expenditures to Texas Ethics Commission, which left her campaign with $1,690.76 on hand as of April 9, 2015.[2]
Texas school board candidates and officeholders must file semiannual reports, which were due on January 15, 2015, and July 15, 2015. In addition, candidates in contested elections were required to file 30-day and 8-day pre-election reports, unless the candidate chose modified reporting.[3]
Candidates in contested elections who did not intend to exceed $500 in contributions or expenditures, excepting filing fees, were eligible for modified reporting. If they exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, candidates were required to submit the 30- and 8-day reports. If they exceeded the threshold after the 30th day prior to the election, they were required to file a report within 48 hours of exceeding the threshold and participate in regular reporting for the rest of the election cycle.[4]
Endorsements
De la Garza-Lopez did not receive any official endorsements for this election.
What was at stake?
Issues in the district
2015 bond package
Voters in McAllen ISD overwhelmingly defeated a $297 million bond package which was approved by the McAllen Board of Trustees in early 2015. Originally the board had proposed a $440 million package, however they opted to instead reallocate about one-third of those funds. The package was broken down into five parts: $201 million for 21st century educational needs, $36 million for mechanical needs, $23 million each for interior and exterior updates and $14 million for safety and security.
The largest part of the package, for what the district coined as "21st Century Educational Needs," included improvements that enhance natural light in schools, science labs, upgraded auditoriums and classroom sound reinforcement systems. According to the district, this bond package "utilizes a funding combination that establishes a mechanism for systemic long-range planning for facility maintenance and for staff compensation" while also reducing tax implications. All projects funded by this bond are scheduled to be completed by the year 2023.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Erica de la Garza-Lopez McAllen Independent School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- McAllen Independent School District, Texas
- McAllen Independent School District elections (2015)
- Decreased success for school board incumbents in Texas; 1/3 defeated in largest districts (May 11, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ McAllen Independent School District, "Erica de la Garza-Lopez," accessed March 30, 2015
- ↑ McAllen Independent School District, "Erica de la Garza-Lopez Campaign Finance Report," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "2015 Filing Schedule for Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File with Local Filing Authorities," September 1, 2013
- ↑ McAllen ISD Bond, "2015 Bond Election," accessed March 18, 2015
