Two Austin ISD board of trustees candidates gained more than 50 percent of the vote Nov. 4 to win their respective districts, leaving three races to be decided during the Dec. 16 runoff election.

Community volunteer Julie Cowan received 77.41 percent of the District 4 vote, securing her spot on the board, and incumbent Robert Schneider received 52.01 percent of the vote in District 7 to retain his board seat. That leaves Districts 1 and 6 and at-large Place 9 yet to be filled.

District 1, which consists of parts of Central and East Austin, will be decided between Edmund T. Gordon, associate professor and chairman of The University of Texas African and African Diaspora Studies Department, and David "D" Thompson, a former teacher, school administrator and community minister. The two respectively received 34.56 percent and 28.45 percent of the Nov. 4 vote in an attempt to replace outgoing trustee Cheryl Bradley.

In District 6, one percentage point separated Paul Saldaa, former tri-chairman of the AISD Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools, and former teacher Kate Mason-Murphy, who will meet in a runoff to replace trustee Lori Moya.

Kendall Pace led all at-large Place 9 candidates with 39.67 percent of the vote, enough to clinch a spot in the runoff against UT professor Hillary Procknow, who gained 24.23 percent of the vote. They seek to replace trustee Tamala Barksdale, who did not to seek re-election.