With both Williamson and Travis counties reporting final unofficial Leander ISD election results, Place 2 incumbent Trustee Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia has been re-elected. However, Place 7 incumbent Trustee Elexis Grimes was defeated by challenger Paul Gauthier.
In the Place 2 race, Gonzales-Dholakia received 50.64% of the vote against challenger Brandi Burkman.
Meanwhile, in the three-way Place 7 seat, Gauthier tallied 35.01% of the vote, or 21,220 votes. Joseph Gorordo garnered 33.39% of the vote—or 20,241 votes—and Grimes came in third with 31.6%, or 19,154 votes.
Incumbent trustees Trish Bode and Sade Fashokun were re-elected to the Place 1 and Place 5 seats, respectively, as previously reported. Francesca Romans won the open Place 6 seat.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.
UPDATED: Nov. 9, 12:32 a.m.
As of 12:30 a.m., Travis County is recording final election results and Williamson County is reporting results from 63 of 65 polling locations.
Incumbent trustees Trish Bode and Sade Fashokun have won re-election to the Place 1 and Place 5 seats, respectively. Francesca Romans has also been elected to the open Place 6 seat.
In the close Place 2 race, incumbent Trustee Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia has received 50.64% of votes so far. Her challenger Brandi Burkman has 49.36% of the vote. There are 805 votes separating the two candidates.
In the Place 7 race, Paul Gauthier remains ahead with 35.01% of the vote. He is trailed by Joseph Gorordo and incumbent Elexis Grimes, who have 33.39% and 31.6% of the vote, respectively.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.
UPDATED: Nov. 9, midnight
As of midnight Nov. 9, both Williamson and Travis counties are reporting some Election Day results.
In the Place 1 race, incumbent Trustee Trish Bode has won re-election with 52% of the vote, or 28,294 votes. She beat Mike Sanders, who garnered 31.34%, or 17,054 votes, and David Doman, who tallied 16.66% of the vote, or 9,066 votes as of midnight.
“I love serving in my community and I’m grateful that the community wants me to continue serving for the next four years,” Bode said. “I’m honored by that and I look forward to getting to work.”
The Place 2 race remains close with incumbent Trustee Gloria Gonzales-Dhlakia at 51.58% of the vote, or 28,331 votes. Challenger Brandi Burkman has received 48.42% of the vote, or 26,600 votes.
Incumbent Trustee Sade Fashokun has won the Place 5 race with 23,400 votes or 43.82% of the votes. Shawn Leege has the next highest percentage of votes in the race at 33.18%, or 17,716 votes, and Kevin Leverenz has received 23% of the vote, or 12,282 votes.
In Leander ISD, school board candidates are elected by a plurality, meaning the candidate that receives the most votes wins the race. There will not be a runoff election.
In the Place 6 race, Francesca Romans has been elected with 43.09% of the vote, or 22,371 votes. The other candidates in the race, Scott Reese and Sharon Bell tallied 31.02% and 25.88% of the vote, respectively. There was no incumbent running for the Place 6 seat.
Each of the three candidates in the Place 7 race are within 1% of each other, with about 1,000 votes separating the first and third place candidates. Paul Gauthier is leading with 34.06% of the vote. He is trailed by Joseph Gorordo with 33.85% and incumbent Elexis Grimes with 16,947 votes.
Votes are still being counted in both Travis and Williamson counties. This story will be updated as more data is available.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.
POSTED: Nov. 8, 7:34 p.m.
Leander ISD voters cast ballots in five board of trustee races during the Nov. 8 general election.
As of 7 p.m., early voting results have been reported from both Williamson and Travis counties. Early voting results include ballots cast via mail and in-person from Oct. 24-Nov. 4.
In the race for Place 1, incumbent Trustee Trish Bode has received 53.38% of the early vote. Bode, who works in corporate communication, was first elected to the LISD board of trustees in 2015.
Of her two challengers, Mike Sanders—an electronic engineer—has received 30.25% of the vote, while David Doman—an electrical engineer—has received 16.37%.
Incumbent Place 2 Trustee Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia is leading challenger Brandi Burkman with 53.07% of the vote. Gonzales-Dholakia has been a trustee since 2018 and a former executive director of the Leander Education Excellence Foundation.
In the three-way race for Place 5, incumbent Trustee Sade Fashokun leads with 45.71% of the vote. She is trailed by Shawn Leege, the owner of a medical corporation, who has 32.22%, and college educator Kevin Leverenz, who has 22.07%.
Fashokun has served on the LISD board since October 2021 when she was appointed to replace former Place 5 Trustee Jim MacKay, who resigned in September 2021.
Place 6, the one seat where the incumbent is not seeking re-election, is being led by freelance paralegal Francesca Romans with 44.63%. Other candidates in the Place 6 race include Scott Reese with 30.64% and Sharon Bell with 24.72%.
LISD’s longest-serving trustee and Place 6 incumbent Aaron Johnson announced in July he would not seek re-election.
Business health executive Joseph Gorordo is leading the Place 7 race with 34.94%. Paul Gauthier, a theater teacher, has garnered 33.09% of the vote, and incumbent Trustee Elexis Grimes, a CSS manager at Aperture, has earned 31.97%.
In Leander ISD, the candidate with the most votes will be elected instead of heading to a runoff if no single candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in races with three or more candidates running.
Leander ISD trustees are elected at large, meaning each trustee represents the entire school district, and voters in the district can cast a ballot in each race. Trustees are elected to four-year terms, and school board elections take place in November in even-numbered years, according to the district.
This is the highest number of Leander ISD school board positions up for election in more than a decade.
In addition to the five school board positions, Leander ISD voters also weighed in on two propositions pertaining to school funding.
During the early voting period, nearly 40% of registered voters in Williamson County cast ballots. Travis County recorded a 37.19% early-voting turnout rate.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.
