Suzanne Peña
Suzanne Denis Peña was an at-large member of the Sharyland Independent School District Board of Trustees in Texas. She served on the board from 2006 until 2012. At that time, the board elections were not organized by numbered seats. She won election in 2006 and re-election in 2009 as one of the top two vote recipients in those races. In 2012, however, she lost her bid for a third consecutive term.
Peña was defeated when she ran for the new Place 4 seat on the board in the general election on May 9, 2015. In her campaigning to rejoin the board in 2015, Peña stated, "If elected I will work hard to help provide that leadership, working toward one goal, preserving the tradition of Sharyland and making it even better."[1]
If she had won the election, Peña would have joined the district in facing an ongoing state investigation of its spending in addition to welcoming a new superintendent for the district, its third in as many years.
Biography
Peña was born September 15, 1960, and has lived in Sharyland ISD for 15 years. She is the co-founder and chief administrator for the Peña Eye Institute. She is the president of the Sharyland Booster Club, a member of the Education Foundation and a member of the Junior Service League Mission.[1]
Peña is married to Dr. Raul Peña. Her four children graduated from district schools. Peña is a parishioner of St. Paul's Church where she also teaches CCD.[1]
Elections
2015
Two of the seven seats Sharyland school board were up for election on May 9, 2015. Incumbents Fernando Ramirez and Eddie Montalvo's at-large terms ended in November 2015. Due to a change in the election procedure for the board, Ramirez and Motalvo had the option of running for the new Place 3 and 4 seats. However, neither incumbent filed to run in the 2015 election.[2]
Both of the open seats saw contested races. Melissa Martinez-Smith defeated Cesar Aguilar for the Place 3 seat. José García defeated fellow newcomer candidates Suzanne Peña, Robert Puente, and Kevin Sparks for the Place 4 seat.[2] However, Puente withdrew from the race on April 24, 2015, and endorsed García in the Place 4 race. Puente's name still appeared on the ballot.[3]
The seat numbers did not correlate to geographic districts or specific schools in the district. Rather, they served to separate the elections for each seat on the board into its own race. Candidates filed to run for a specific seat, but all voters in the school district were eligible to vote for both seats up for election. For more information about the election process, see the method of board member selection section of this election's overview.
Results
| Sharyland Independent School District, Place 4 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  José García |
40.2% | 759 | |
| Nonpartisan | Suzanne Peña | 38.7% | 730 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kevin Sparks | 20% | 377 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Puente | 1.2% | 22 | |
| Total Votes | 1,888 | |||
| Source: Hidalgo County Clerk, "Sharyland I.s.d.- May 9, 2015 Election: Official Results, May 20, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Peña reported $5,150.00 in contributions and $4,638.45 in expenditures to the the district according to reports by The Monitor, which left her campaign with $511.55 on hand as of April 9, 2015.[4] The next filing deadline was May 1, 2015.
Endorsements
Peña received no official endorsements as of April 7, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Peña provided the following statement on her campaign Facebook page:
| “ | Suzanne loves Sharyland and knows the importance of providing education excellence as her children are the product of the Sharyland School System. Through their involvement with sports and organizations she has the unique prospective of a SHS mom with the business know how to make a difference in our community.
She believes the challenges facing our students in academics, technology, and athletics needs to continually be reevaluated and addressed to continue our winning tradition. "In order to strengthen our schools, our leadership on the Sharyland School Board needs to work cohesively in the interest of our kids. If elected I will work hard to help provide that leadership, working toward one goal, preserving the tradition of Sharyland and making it even better. I would appreciate your support. God Bless."[5] |
” |
| —Suzanne Peña's campaign Facebook page (2015)[1] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Suzanne Peña Sharyland ISD. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Sharyland Independent School District, Texas
- Sharyland 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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Facebook, "Vote Suzanne Peña for Sharyland School Board: About," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Lou Ann Sarachene, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Sharyland ISD," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Sharyland Times: Wall Post," April 24, 2015
- ↑ The Monitor, "Initial finance reports in for Sharyland school board election," April 13, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2015 Sharyland Independent School District Elections | |
| Hidalgo County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 9, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Place 3: Melissa Martinez-Smith • Cesar Aguilar
Place 4: José García • Suzanne Peña • Robert Puente • Kevin Sparks |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
