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Texas school board elections draw large number of challengers

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May 8, 2014

By Nick Katers

A total of 44 school districts among the largest districts by enrollment in Texas will hold elections on May 10, 2014 for 116 seats. These races feature 224 candidates including 77 incumbents seeking new terms on their respective boards. Early voting took place across the state from April 28, 2014 through May 6, 2014. Polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time. There are an additional 10 districts that canceled their elections due to a lack of opposition for filed candidates: Birdville, Deer Park, Denton, Frisco, Galena Park, Harlingen, Leander, Pflugerville, Spring Branch and Victoria.

School board elections throughout Texas have addressed a wide variety of issues. Fort Bend Independent School District has three competitive races that attracted more than $45,000 in campaign contributions and sparked a Facebook feud between Position 4 candidate Kristin K. Tassin and her opponents. Candidates for the Garland Board of Trustees addressed an ongoing federal investigation of the district's use of temporary worker visas for foreign teachers. The Richardson board election is the district's first election since 2004 without an incumbent on the ballot. Board members in San Benito Consolidated Independent School District will be tasked with choosing a replacement for Superintendent Antonio G. Limón, who was suspended in 2013 due to mismanagement of district resources.

Spotlight: Dallas Independent School District

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The school board election in Dallas features two competitive seats including a rematch of a special election in November 2013. The District 6 race features five candidates including Bertha Bailey Whatley, an attorney who has garnered endorsements from local political action committees Educate Dallas and Dallas Kids First, and Lew Blackburn, Jr., the son of current District 5 trustee Lew Blackburn. D. Marcus Ranger is seeking to replace his wife, Carla, who is the current District 6 trustee. Candidates for District 6 have raised a total of $21,710 prior to the general election with Whatley raising $15,000 and Joyce Foreman in second with $3,650. The District 8 race features challenger Kristi Lara and incumbent Miguel Solis, who competed for an unexpired term for the same seat in November 2013. Solis defeated Lara by 32 percent in the special election and raised $20,098 prior to this election compared to Lara's $1,523 in contributions. Incumbent Mike Morath faces no opposition in the District 2 race after two challengers withdrew by early March 2014.

The upcoming board election coincides with a petition drive to turn Dallas Independent School District into a home-rule district. A state law passed in 1995 allows school districts to create home-rule charters if they gain enough support from local voters. A home-rule charter provides more local control for a district and allows a district to develop its own curriculum standards, school calendars and teacher salaries. Support Our Public Schools is a local group currently gathering petitions necessary to get the home-rule charter on the ballot in November 2014. The group is supported by Morath, led by current board member Wilton Hollins and receives funds from former hedge fund manager John Arnold. Supporters need to gather 24,459 petitions, develop a 15-member charter commission and receive a simple majority of votes if the charter reaches the ballot to achieve their goal. The drive has been opposed by Superintendent Mike Miles along with board members Lew Blackburn, Carla Ranger and Bernadette Nutall, who are concerned about the motivations for changing the district's structure.[1][2]

Candidates

Note: An (i) next to a candidate's name indicates incumbent status.

Abilene Independent School District

Place 4
Cindy Parker Earles
Danny Kittley

Place 5
Samuel Garcia
Danny Wheat (i)

Place 6
Stan Lambert

Place 7
Andy Cleveland
Kelvin Kelley (i)

Allen Independent School District
Place 6
Wayne Boline
Louise Master (i)

Place 7
Paul D. Jackson III
Mark Jones (i)
Jimmy Trotter

Alvin Independent School District
Position 6
Earl Humbird
Sue Stringer (i)

Position 7
Chad Dudley
Vivian Scheibel

Arlington Independent School District
Place 6
Bowie Hogg (i)

Place 7
Bridgett Davis
Kecia Mays

Belton Independent School District
At-large
Jason Carothers (i)
Donald Wayne Copeland
Amanda Winkler (i)

Brazosport Independent School District
District 1
Troy T. Brimage
George R. Sullivan (i)

District 6
Ryan Huey
Scott A. Schwertner

District 7
Mason P. Howard (i)

Burleson Independent School District
Place 3
Paul Keese
Ryan Richardson
Kim Tyler

Place 4
Rick Pettijohn
Andy Pickens (i)

Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District
Place 1
James Goode (i)
Karin Webb

Place 2
Nancy Cline (i)

Clear Creek Independent School District
District 2
Nick Long
Win Weber (i)

District 3
Ken Baliker (i)

Comal Independent School District
District 3
Ken Adkins
Laurie Schley
Jason York (i)

District 4
Denise Kern
Nancy Pappas (i)

Coppell Independent School District
Place 4
Thom Hulme (i)

Place 5
Amy Dungan (i)
Jeff Jordan

Crowley Independent School District
Place 1
Jay Hinton
Misty Whitley

Place 2
Thedrick Franklin (i)
Jerry Nugent

Place 3
P.K. Chowdhury (i)
Rusty Norton

Dallas Independent School District
District 2
Mike Morath (i)

District 6
Lew Blackburn, Jr.
Joyce Foreman
D. Marcus Ranger
Carlos Sherman
Bertha Bailey Whatley

District 8
Kristi Lara
Richard P. Sheridan
Miguel Solis (i)

Dickinson Independent School District
District 1
Mike Mackey (i)

District 2
Leo S. Rudd
Veanna Veasey

Duncanville Independent School District
Place 4
Louis McElroy (i)
Renee McNeely

Place 5
Elijah Granger
Patrick R. LeBlanc

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District
Place 6
Josh Barber
Liz Hatley

Place 7
Donna K. Webb (i)

Fort Bend Independent School District
Position 1
Jason Burdine
Ramesh Cherivirala
Qaisar Imam
C.J. Udoagwu

Position 4
Bruce Albright (i)
Rodrigo Carreon
Deron R. Harrington
Kristin K. Tassin

Position 5
Kris Allfrey
KP George
Patsy Taylor (i)

Garland Independent School District
Place 4
Cindy Castañeda (i)
Dwight Davis
Connie Griffin Boone

Place 5
Lawrence Billy Jones III
Scott L. Luna (i)

Georgetown Independent School District
Place 4
Fred Barhydt (i)

Place 5
Melanie Dunham
Francis Jackson

Grand Prairie Independent School District
Place 3
Katrina Jones
Angela Luckey

Place 4
Mike Riley
John David Stewart (i)

Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District
Place 5
Troy Greisen
Jesse Rodriguez (i)

Place 6
Leon Leal (i)

Place 7
Mark Assaad
Jorge Rodriguez (i)

Hays Consolidated Independent School District
District 1
Jesus Espinoza
Teresa M. Tobias

District 2
Willie Tenorio, Jr. (i)
Miguel Zuniga

At-large
Sandra Bryant (i)
Letty Vasquez-Jones
Will McManus

Irving Independent School District
District 1
Steven Jones (i)

District 2
Nell Anne Hunt
Garrett M. Landry

District 6
Randy Necessary

Katy Independent School District
Position 3
Bill Proctor (i)
Ashley Vann

Position 4
Jennifer Camero
Courtney Doyle
Terry Huckaby (i)

Position 5
Henry Dibrell (i)
Cyndi Lawrence

Keller Independent School District
Place 4
Craig Allen (i)
Ed Allen
Michael Goolsby

Place 5
Shane Hardin
Jo Lynn Haussmann
Terry King
Jim Joros

Killeen Independent School District
Place 4
Lan Carter
Aya Eneli
Brockley Moore
Marvin Rainwater

Place 5
Terry Delano (i)

Lewisville Independent School District
Place 6
Kristi Hassett
Mary Smith
Krista Stone

Place 7
Carol Kyer (i)
Tracy Scott Miller

Lubbock Independent School District
At-large
Boyd Goodloe
Brett Underwood
Laura Vinson

District 3
Mark Blankenship (i)

District 4
James Arnold (i)

Magnolia Independent School District
Position 4
Kristi Baker (i)
Ginger Russell

Position 5
Joe Duncan

Mansfield Independent School District
Place 6
Danny Baas (i)
Kory Watkins

Place 7
Courtney Lackey Wilson (i)

Mesquite Independent School District
Place 3
Gary Bingham (i)

Place 4
Greg Everett
Rachel Lopez

Place 5
Robert Seward (i)

Mission Consolidated Independent School District
Place 1
Marcie González Acosta
Roy Vela

Place 6
A.C. Pruneda
Petra B. Ramirez
Rigo Sariñana

Place 7
Oscar Martinez (i)
Herminia R. (Minnie) Rodgers
Rick Venecia

North East Independent School District
District 2
Bob Coster
Edd White (i)

District 3
Sandi Wolff

District 7
Brigitte Perkins (i)

Northwest Independent School District
Place 5
Jerry Burkett
Devonna Holland (i)

Place 6
Andrew Bennett
Stan Durham
Aaron Fraser
Edward Mergenthal
Lillian Rauch
Kristi Wade

Place 7
Mel Fuller (i)
Doug Smith

Pearland Independent School District
Position 1
Charles Gooden Jr.
Trevor S. Hale
Jeff Jeffress

Position 2
Rusty DeBorde (i)
Suzanne Johnson

Richardson Independent School District
Place 6
Justin Bono
Rachel Chumney

Place 7
Bonnie Abadie
Kristin Kuhne
Judy Yarbrough

Rockwall Independent School District
Place 6
Leigh Plagens (i)

Place 7
Stephanie Adams (i)
Chad Higbee
Leslie Latham Milder
David Schwartz

San Benito Consolidated Independent School District
Place 4
June Aguilera (i)
Arnold Padilla

Place 5
Hector Leal (i)
Joyce Aguirre
Rene Salinas
Roberto Benavides

Place 6
Oscar Medrano (i)
Orlando Lopez

Place 7
Julian Huerta (i)
Angel Mendez
Esteban Rodriguez
Gilbert Weaver

San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District
Place 1
Fernando Quiz (i)

Place 3
Ceci Mertinez-Lozano (i)
David F. Rountree

Place 4
Raymond P. Meza (i)
Antonio Perea

Place 5
Roberto Chavira (i)

Sharyland Independent School District
Place 1
Ricky Longoria (i)
Alejandro Rodriguez III

Place 2
Juan F. Zuniga (i)
Julio Cerda

Southwest Independent School District
At-large
Johnathon Cruz
Mike C. Frazier (i)
Yolanda Garza-Lopez (i)

Tyler Independent School District
District 2
Cedrick Granberry Sr.
Orenthia Mason (i)

District 4
Patricia Nation

District 5
Barbara Smith
Ross Strader (i)

Waco Independent School District
At-large
Armando Arvizu
Cary DuPuy (i)

District 2
Jezelle D. Cooper
Colbert Murphy

District 3
Larry Perez (i)

Wichita Falls Independent School District
At-large
Allyson Flack (i)
W.O. (Bill) Franklin
Kerry Don Maroney
Elizabeth Yeager

Place 1
Bob Payton (i)

See also

Footnotes