Rebecca Bell-Metereau

Rebecca Bell-Metereau

Democratic Party

Texas State Board of Education District 5

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Ken Mercer

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Indiana University, 1973

Graduate

Indiana University, 1973

Ph.D

Indiana University, 1981

Other

Indiana University

Personal

Birthplace

Valparaiso, Ind.

Profession

Professor

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Rebecca Bell-Metereau (Democratic Party) is a member of the Texas State Board of Education, representing District 5. She assumed office on January 1, 2021. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Bell-Metereau (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 5. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Bell-Metereau completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Rebecca Bell-Metereau was born in Valparaiso, Indiana. She earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1973, a graduate degree from Indiana University in 1973, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1981. Her career experience includes working as a professor of English and film at Texas State University.

Bell-Metereau has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Texas Faculty Association
• Texas State Teachers Association
• Society for Cinema and Media Studies
• Texas Democratic Party

Political career

Texas State Board of Education (2021-present)

Bell-Metereau was elected to the board in November 2020 and assumed office in January 2021.

Elections

2022

See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2022

General election

General election for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Incumbent Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Perla Hopkins in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D)	63.8	419,391
		Perla Hopkins (R)	36.2	237,773

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 657,164
= 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.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mark Loewe (R)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Incumbent Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Juan Juárez and Kevin Guico in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau	73.7	91,899
		Juan Juárez	19.8	24,667
		Kevin Guico	6.5	8,077

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 124,643
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Mark Loewe defeated Robert Morrow in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mark Loewe	53.5	39,106
	Submit photo	Robert Morrow	46.5	33,975

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 73,081
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2020

General election

General election for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Lani Popp and Stephanie Berlin in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D)	48.9	493,930
		Lani Popp (R)	47.1	475,824
	Submit photo	Stephanie Berlin (L)	3.9	39,456

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,009,210
= 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.

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Lani Popp defeated Robert Morrow in the Republican primary runoff for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lani Popp	78.0	55,990
	Submit photo	Robert Morrow	22.0	15,827

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 71,817
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Rebecca Bell-Metereau defeated Letti Bresnahan in the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau	68.5	143,351
		Letti Bresnahan	31.5	65,885

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 209,236
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Robert Morrow and Lani Popp advanced to a runoff. They defeated Inga Cotton in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Robert Morrow	40.0	54,460
✔		Lani Popp	34.0	46,276
		Inga Cotton	26.0	35,425

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 136,161
= 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 5

Stephanie Berlin advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 5 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Stephanie Berlin (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= 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.

2018

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 45

Erin Zwiener defeated Ken Strange in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 45 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Erin Zwiener (D)	51.6	43,207
	Submit photo	Ken Strange (R)	48.4	40,531

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 83,738
= 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.

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 45

Erin Zwiener defeated Rebecca Bell-Metereau in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas House of Representatives District 45 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Erin Zwiener	51.4	3,003
		Rebecca Bell-Metereau	48.6	2,837

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 5,840
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 45

Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Erin Zwiener advanced to a runoff. They defeated Les Carnes in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 45 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Bell-Metereau	45.4	5,133
✔		Erin Zwiener	30.7	3,466
	Submit photo	Les Carnes	23.9	2,705

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,304
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 45

Ken Strange defeated Amber Pearce, Naomi Narvaiz, Austin Talley, and Amy Akers in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 45 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Ken Strange	54.7	7,257
		Amber Pearce	24.4	3,233
		Naomi Narvaiz	9.2	1,217
		Austin Talley	6.8	901
		Amy Akers	4.9	651

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,259
= 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.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rebecca Bell-Metereau completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bell-Metereau's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am seeking re-election to the Texas State Board of Education from District 5 (Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Hays, Travis and a portion of Williamson). I am endorsed by the Texas State Teachers Association. On the board, I work to prepare our 5.4 million children enrolled in public school for bright, productive futures. I am strongly committed to teaching factually accurate history, science and sex education. Prior to being elected, I testified at board hearings on textbook and curriculum matters for more than a decade.

I am a professor of English and film at Texas State University, where I founded and direct the Media Studies Minor. I taught grades K-12 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa and returned to teach at the university level in Senegal as a Fulbright Scholar. I received my BA, MA and PhD from Indiana University, and I am the author of four books and more than 100 papers and articles.

My two grown daughters graduated from San Marcos public schools. I volunteered during their sixteen years of enrollment conducting teacher trainings and ACT and SAT prep. I am a lifelong environmentalist and helped bring curbside recycling and bike paths to San Marcos.

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?

• Support our public schools, students, teachers and parents
• Give all students a strong curriculum to prepare them for bright future
• Stop high-stakes testing

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1) Providing quality public education for all school-age children in Texas.

2) Making sure that our curriculum and textbooks are factually accurate.
3) Ending high-stakes testing, which is harming our students and schools
4) Allowing teachers to teach current events without fear of reprisal
5) Providing art, music and physical education programs to enrich students' lives

6) Protecting the environment, because there is no "Planet B."

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

Nancy Pelosi, because she helped me get my start in public service by introducing me to everyone who wanted to speak to her at a banquet.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

1) Honesty, 2) work ethic, 3) compassion, 4) respect for science, scholarship and data, 5) respect for diverse populations, 6) energy and persistence

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

Intelligence, education, compassion, energy, persistence, respect for others, desire to serve, humility

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

JFK assassination, when I was 13.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

The French Lieutenants' Woman

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

I try to listen to everyone. I attempt to meet, email, and answer everyone who contacts me. I attend school board meetings and gatherings of teachers and parents. I strive to work in a bipartisan manner with Republicans on the board, who currently hold a majority of the seats, by finding common cause on improving education.

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

High-stakes testing, underfunding, large class sizes, and poor broadband in rural areas and inner-city neighborhoods are holding education back. I would encourage the legislature to adequately fund schools, improve pay, benefits and pensions for teachers, and invest in a Digital New Deal to bring broadband to everyone through government action akin to the efforts to bring electricity to everyone in the 1930s and 1940s.

What are your views on how to address schooling during pandemic times?

I support allowing local school boards to make public-health decisions to protect students, teachers, school staff, parents and their communities without interference from the governor or the legislature.

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.

2020

Rebecca Bell-Metereau did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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2022 Elections

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Ken Mercer (R)	Texas State Board of Education District 5 2021-Present	Succeeded by -