Final vote totals from Travis County show a clear majority for candidates in each of the board of trustee races.
Five of the nine trustee positions were up for election. Four of those races—Districts 1, 4, 6 and at-large Place 9—featured two candidates, while District 7 candidate David Kauffman ran unopposed.
The incumbents for Districts 6 and 9—Geronimo Rodriguez and Arati Singh, respectively—both ran for re-election, while the other three races will bring in a new representative.
Here is where the races stand:
District 1
Candace Hunter won the race with 65% of the vote.
Hunter is a field supervisor for Austin Community College Teacher Certification Program as well as a former Austin ISD student, teacher, department chair, instructional coach, principal intern, tutor and vendor.
"I'm thankful to the voters and volunteers who placed their trust in me, and I want to let all of AISD and District 1 know that I'm honored to represent them on the board," Hunter told Community Impact. "I'm excited to begin work as a trustee, and I invite Roxanne and those who supported her to join us as we collectively turn to making things better for our D1 students and families."
Roxanne Evans, the other candidate, is a public relations professional parent, former Austin ISD employee and long-time volunteer.
Both candidates referenced challenges to students, especially students from District 1, which covers part of East Austin, as their decision for running.
Evans stated her priority if elected would be “ensur[ing] that Black, brown, and economically disadvantaged students are graduating and leaving school ready for college or a career.”
Hunter said part of her reason for running was, “Austin ISD has not made good on its promise to deliver a high-quality education for all students.”
The current Austin ISD trustee, LaTisha Anderson, did not run in this election.
District 4
District 4 is one of the three seats where the incumbent—Kristin Ashy, for this place—chose not to run.
Candidate Kathryn Whitley Chu defeated Clint Small with 71% of the vote.
“I am so excited that folks in Austin are sending a clear message that public education is important to our community and that they value teachers, value us, and want us making [good] decisions for schools,” she said.
Chu is a former accountant turned teacher who said her biggest priority is focusing on student and teacher retention.
Small is a builder. He also identified teacher and student retention as a top issue along with fixing infrastructure issues within the district.
District 6
Andrew Gonzales carried the race with 67% of the vote over current board President Geronimo Rodriguez.
Gonzales is a multigenerational Austin resident and a former AISD student. In a Q&A with Community Impact, he said he was running to focus on student improvements, special education and finding a new superintendent.
Rodriguez said his continued priorities if re-elected will be supporting bilingual and special education students, school safety and staff retention.
District 9
District 9 is an at-large position, meaning the trustee represents the entire district, rather than just one geographic area.
Incumbent Arati Singh won with 68 of the vote, while Heather Toolin received 32%.
Toolin is an interior designer, AISD mom and community volunteer. Toolin said she is running to champion parents’ role in students’ educations, remove politics in education and respect the views of taxpayers.
Singh is an educational evaluator. She said her re-election would allow her to focus on students’ emotional, physical and social safety; teacher pay; and education funding.
