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Houston Independent School District elections (2016)
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One seat on the Houston Independent School District Board of Trustees was up for general election on November 8, 2016. Four candidates filed for the special election to replace Harvin Moore, who announced his resignation in 2016. District voters chose from Victoria Bryant, John Luman, Danielle Paulus, and Anne Sung. Sung and Luman were the top two vote-getters, but neither won more than 50 percent of the votes, which was a requirement to win the election outright. Sung defeated Luman in a runoff election on December 10, 2016.[1][2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Houston ISD Board of Trustees consists of nine members who are elected by district to four-year staggered terms. There was no primary election and the general election for one seat was held November 8, 2016.
A member of the board must be 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and a resident of the district. An individual seeking office must be a resident of the state for 12 months and a resident of the district for six months prior to the last date on which the candidate could file to be listed on the ballot.[3] The deadline for candidates to file for the special election was August 25, 2016.[4]
Candidates and results
District VII
Runoff results
| Houston Independent School District, District VII Runoff Special Election, 1-Year Term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Anne Sung |
50.28% | 3,305 |
| John Luman | 49.72% | 3,268 |
| Total Votes | 6,573 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report — Official: Houston Independent School District — Runoff Election for Trustee, District VII — December 10, 2016," accessed September 19, 2019 | ||
General results
| Houston Independent School District, District VII General Special Election, 1-Year Term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Anne Sung |
46.80% | 16,790 |
| John Luman |
29.24% | 10,491 |
| Victoria Bryant | 17.05% | 6,118 |
| Danielle Paulus | 6.91% | 2,480 |
| Total Votes | 35,879 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Cumulative Report - Official," November 16, 2016 | ||
Runoff election candidates
Anne Sung 
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John Luman | ||
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Defeated in general election
| Victoria Bryant | Danielle Paulus | ||
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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.
Victoria Bryant was endorsed in the election by Houston City Council members Mike Knox and Steve Le. She was also endorsed by Houston ISD Trustee Greg Meyers.[6]
John Luman was endorsed in the election by U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R), former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Houston City Council member Greg Travis, and outgoing board member Harvin Moore. He was also endorsed by the Houston Business Education Coalition and the Houston Citizens for Good School District Governance.[7]
Anne Sung was endorsed in the election by the Houston Chronicle, the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, the 80-20 Asian American PAC, and the Houston Federation of Teachers. She was also endorsed by Texas State Senators Rodney Ellis (D-13) and Sylvia Garcia (D-6), Texas State Representatives Gene Wu (D-137) and Jessica Farrar (D-148), and Houston City Council members Ellen Cohen and Mike Laster.[8]
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.[9]
Candidates received a total of $90,307.13 and spent a total of $49,640.59 as of October 8, 2016, according to the Houston Independent School District.[10] The following table details contributions and expenditures received through October 8, 2016.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria Bryant | $0.00 | $524.94 |
| John Luman | $48,950.00 | $21,785.34 |
| Danielle Paulus | $0.00 | $22,709.59 |
| Anne Sung | $41,357.13 | $4,620.72 |
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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About the district
Houston Independent School District is located in north Harris County, Texas. The county seat of Harris County is Houston. Harris County was home to 4,538,028 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[11] The district was the 20th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 48,253 students.[12]
Demographics
Harris County outperformed the state of Texas in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.0 percent of Harris 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 Harris County was $53,822, compared to $52,576 for the state of Texas. The poverty rate in Harris County was 17.3 percent, compared to 15.9 percent for the entire state.[11]
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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 Houston Independent School District Texas election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Houston Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Houston Independent School District, "Special school board election draws four applications," August 25, 2016
- ↑ Click 2 Houston, "HISD District 7 trustee race heads to runoff," November 10, 2016
- ↑ Texas Association of School Boards, "Frequently Asked Questions About Running for a School Board," accessed October 17, 2016
- ↑ Houston Public Media, "Houston School Board Vacancy Draws Four Candidates for Nov. 8 Election," August 26, 2016
- ↑ Texas Association of School Boards, "November 8, 2016 Election Calendar and FAQ," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ Victoria Bryant for Houston ISD Trustee, District VII, "Endorsements," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ John Luman for Trustee, "Endorsements," accessed November 7, 2016
- ↑ Anne Sung for HISD Trustee, "Supporters," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "2016 Filing Schedule for Reports Due in Connection with Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed October 24, 2016
- ↑ Houston Independent School District, "Election Information," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 United States Census Bureau, "Harris County, Texas," accessed October 7, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Harris County," accessed December 31, 2014
| Houston Independent School District elections in 2016 | |
| Harris County, Texas | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District VII: Victoria Bryant • John Luman • Danielle Paulus • Anne Sung |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
