Maria Benzon

Maria Benzon

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Houston Independent School District, District V

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas at Austin, 1997

Graduate

University of Texas at Austin, 1999

Ph.D

University of Houston, 2013

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Assistant principal

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Maria Benzon is running for election to the Houston Independent School District to represent District V in Texas. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.^[source]

Biography

Maria Benzon was born in Manila, Philippines. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1997 and 1999, respectively, and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston in 2013. Her career experience includes working as an assistant principal, a professor at the University of Houston, and a math teacher.

Elections

2025

See also: Houston Independent School District, Texas, elections (2025)

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

General election for Houston Independent School District, District V

Maria Benzon and Robbie McDonough are running in the general election for Houston Independent School District, District V on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Maria Benzon (Nonpartisan)
		Robbie McDonough (Nonpartisan)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2021

See also: Houston Independent School District, Texas, elections (2021)

General runoff election

General runoff election for Houston Independent School District, District V

Incumbent Sue Deigaard defeated Caroline Walter in the general runoff election for Houston Independent School District, District V on December 11, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sue Deigaard (Nonpartisan)	63.9	8,584
		Caroline Walter (Nonpartisan)	36.1	4,851

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,435
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

General election

General election for Houston Independent School District, District V

Incumbent Sue Deigaard and Caroline Walter advanced to a runoff. They defeated Maria Benzon in the general election for Houston Independent School District, District V on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sue Deigaard (Nonpartisan)	49.5	7,921
✔		Caroline Walter (Nonpartisan)	36.3	5,814
		Maria Benzon (Nonpartisan)	14.2	2,276

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,011
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Benzon's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Maria Benzon has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Maria Benzon asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Maria Benzon, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

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You can ask Maria Benzon to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing benzon4hisd@gmail.com.

2021

Maria Benzon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benzon's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a passionate educator with over 20 years of experience ranging from teacher to university professor to an administrator. I began teaching in San Antonio ISD at Wheatley Middle School. Then, I taught at Lawson Middle School (previously known as Dowling MS) and served as a Math Specialist for the Madison High School Feeder Pattern. I wanted to better understand how teachers could help students learn better, so I pursued a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology while I taught pre-service teachers at the University of Houston. Currently, I am an Assistant Principal at Southwest Schools. I am also a parent of an HISD student, a Girl Scout troop leader, and the President of the community organization, Bellaire Young Mothers. I am dedicated to helping all students learn.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Fix the COVID-19 Academic Gap through Equitable Education, Wraparound Services, and Restorative Practices.
• Address Teacher Shortage through Better Pay, Benefits, and Professional Development for Diverse Learners
• Lessen the Emphasis on Standardized Testing with More Emphasis on Projects and Creative Problem Solving

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about 1) supporting teachers through high-quality professional development for diverse learners, 2) recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers at every school, 3) ensuring counselors and wraparound services are available in all schools, 4) interrupting and fighting the school to prison pipeline through implicit bias training and restorative practices in schools.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

While there are many people in my life who I respect and admire greatly, a public figure who I look up to is Elizabeth Warren. She is smart, compassionate, and a former special education teacher. She had a plan for everything!

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I think a good book that reflects my philosophy about governance and serving the community is Elizabeth Warren's book, Persist.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have worked hard in the trenches and the ivory tower to ultimately help ALL kids learn and grow. I have had to make tough decisions and have had hard conversations with adults for the sake of the students. I would make a successful officeholder because I am a servant leader, a strong collaborator, an effective communicator, a responsible decision-maker, and a life-long learner dedicated to helping ALL kids have a high-quality education.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger when I was in middle school. At 12 years old I remember the teachers talking about it and being able to watch the news for a little while during the school day.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was working at the family donut shop and Filipino bakery. I had it from middle school, through high school, and when I came home from college.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Martian by Andy Weir. It is a book about struggling against all the odds, hoping and working toward that hope when there is no sign of ever being helped. It is about thinking outside of the box to solve problems. It is about resilience in light of insurmountable circumstances.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

The primary job of a school board member is to represent the district to create policies that support high-quality learning for all students. Therefore, a major task as a school board member is to hire and, if needed, remove the Superintendent. A school board member is also a person whom the community can speak to directly about concerns.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

To support HISD's diverse needs, I would support wraparound services at schools with more counselors to support the mental health needs of students. Also, I would provide more educational supports to schools whose community schools have traditionally been under-resourced. I would support more training for faculty and staff that focuses on working with diverse learners especially special education students.

Do you believe it is important to intentionally recruit with the aim of diversifying the district’s faculty, staff, and administration? If so, what would be your policy to achieve this?

Houston ISD's sudent body consists of about 60% Latino students, 20% Black students, and 10% White students. About 33% of students are identified as English Learners and almost 80% are identified as Economically Disadvantaged. Therefore, I believe that the school district should have teachers and leaders that reflect the student body. We should hire more Spanish-speaking staff as well to support our students and to improve communication to Spanish-speaking families.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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