Hinojosa, Elenz, Mathias, Teich poised to take spots on Austin ISD board of trustees

With a total of 13,687 votes (62.55 percent), Amber Elenz secured the District 5 trustee spot, running against Charlie Jackson, who received 8,195 votes (37.45 percent), in the race for the place formerly held by Mark Williams, the board's president and District 5 trustee who was first elected in 2004.

Ann Teich had 7,165 votes (64.61 percent) compared with District 3 incumbent Christine Brister's 3,924 votes (35.39 percent).

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

Updated 11:40 p.m. CST

According to unofficial results, the following four candidates are poised to take trustee spots on the Austin ISD board of trustees:

Gina Hinojosa maintained a lead against Mary Ellen Pietruszynski for Annette LoVoi's vacated at-large Place 8 seat. Hinojosa had a total of 88,042 votes (69.02 percent), while Pietruszynski had 39,787 votes (30.98 percent).

"I don't support closing neighborhood schools to bring in charters, and the vast majority of people in this city don't support that," Hinojosa said. "Once we were able to make it clear that was what was at stake, our campaign didn't have any trouble winning support."

With a total of 12,907 votes (62.30 percent), Amber Elenz is in the lead for the District 5 trustee spot, running against Charlie Jackson, who received 7,811 votes (37.70 percent), in the race for the place formerly held by Mark Williams, the board's president and District 5 trustee who was first elected in 2004.

District 2 has the closest race; Jayme Mathias led in the polls with 5,493 votes (50.70 percent), followed closely by incumbent Sam Guzman, who had 5,342 votes (49.30 percent).

At a campaign event held by Education Austin Nov. 6 at El Gallo restaurant, Mathias said he felt good about the race and thanked his supporters.

"Everyone who's been here tonight has helped to champion this race one way or another," he said.

Ann Teich had 6,460 votes (65.11 percent) compared with District 3 incumbent Christine Brister's 3,461 votes (34.89 percent).

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

Posted 8:26 p.m. CST

According to unofficial early voting results, the following four candidates are leading in the polls for trustee spots on the Austin ISD board of trustees:

In the race for Annette LoVoi's vacated at-large Place 8 seat, Gina Hinojosa is leading with 57,824 votes (68.77 percent) while Mary Ellen Pietruszynski has 26,254 votes (31.23 percent).

Amber Elenz is in the lead for the District 5 trustee spot, with 8,746 votes (61.67 percent) compared with Charlie Jackson, who has 5,436 votes (38.33 percent). The place was formerly held by Mark Williams, the board's president and District 5 trustee who was first elected in 2004.

Jayme Mathias has 3,304 votes (52.58 percent) in the race for District 2, succeeding incumbent Sam Guzman, who has 2,980 votes (47.42 percent).

Ann E. Teich has 4,380 votes (66.40 percent) in the race for District 3, while incumbent Christine Brister has 2,216 votes (33.60 percent).

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

At-large Place 8

Pietruszynski is a mother and the executive director for the Sooch Foundation, which assists the economically disadvantaged by funding educational activities and social services. She manages a $20 million budget and reads data on AISD daily, she said.

Hinojosa, an attorney, said trustees should be more accessible. Hinojosa has worked with community groups for 15 years and said her legal experience would help with transparency as well as hiring and firing staff. She has a child in the AISD system.

District 5

Elenz has been a past president of the Austin Council of PTAs. She said she has been active in the PTA, campus advisory councils and the District Advisory Council. She volunteers with The Junior League of Austin, and worked in finance and marketing at United Airlines.

Jackson, a parent and high-tech entrepreneur, said he has been involved in PTAs, fundraisers and student mentoring in Pflugerville and AISD schools in addition to education projects in Arizona, California, New York and overseas. He has also served on AISD's Educational Technology Advisory Committee.

Williams did not seek re-election.

District 2

Guzman, the incumbent, said addressing achievement gaps in the district is his priority. He said his greatest accomplishment was working with the community when the Texas Education Agency wanted to close Johnson High School and reopening it as Eastside Memorial High School. Guzman founded the Youth Advocacy Program and has been in booster clubs, civic organizations and PTAs.

Mathias said members of the East Austin, Dove Springs and Travis Heights communities asked him to run to represent their voice on the board. Mathias is a Catholic pastor and founded three learning centers. A 12-year resident of his district, he wants to address scarce funding and poor graduation rates.

District 3

Teich said she plans to address overcrowding in District 3 schools, increase equity of education and improve graduation rates. Teich, vice president of the North Austin Civic Association, retired from teaching after 27 years and has been a substitute teacher. Brister was elected to the board in 2008 and did not seek re-election.