Some Austin ISD board of trustees races headed for runoffs

The AISD board comprises nine seats, and elections were held for single-member trustee districts 1, 4, 6 and 7, and Trustee At-Large Position 9. The school district serves about 85,000 students at 128 schools. AISD has geographic districts, and in this election each resident was able to vote for a candidate to represent his or her area as well as for a candidate to represent the district at large.

With all votes counted, unofficial results show Districts 4 and 7 appear to have clear winners, while Districts 1 and 6 and At-Large Position 9 are headed for runoffs. A runoff election typically takes place if a candidate in any race does not receive at least 50 percent of the vote. All results are unofficial until canvassed.

District 4

In District 4, community volunteer Julie Cowan had a strong showing with 77.41 percent of the vote, or 18,905 votes. Candidate Karen Flanagan, who is a nurse, dietician and urban farmer, had 22.59 percent of the vote, or 5,516 votes.

Cowan said she is excited about the unofficial results and looks forward to her responsibilities as a board member, including voting to hire a new superintendent and working with AISD and other trustees to tackle funding and other issues as part of the upcoming legislative session.

"I am really excited to be part of that process and bring the experience I have from working in the Legislature in my past and trying to make those connections and just see what we can do there," Cowan said.

She said she is honored voters came out to support her in the race.

"I have big shoes to fill, filling Vince Torres's seat. He has done good things for our district and he's really well-liked, but I'm looking forward to doing a good job just like he did," she said.

Torres, who serves as the board's president, announced in June that he would not seek another term on the board.

The district represents parts of Northwest Austin as well as Central Austin.

District 7

Robert Schneider, the incumbent for District 7 in Southwest Austin, had 52.01 percent of the vote, or 9,925 votes, according to unofficial voting results.

Margins were close, and Schneider said he is privileged to be able to continue to serve Southwest Austin and focus on legislative issues, budget solutions and AISD's facility master plan on the board.

"This is the fourth time I have run for election on the school board and have won four timesI tend to do what I think is best and what I think is best for my community and what my community wants," Schneider said.

Challenger Yasmin Wagner had 47.99 percent of the vote, or 9,157 votes.

Some districts headed for runoffs

District 1

The race to represent District 1, which consists of parts of Central Austin and East Austin, is slated for a runoff, according to Austin ISD. Unofficial results including Election Day tallies showed Edmund T. Gordon, associate professor and chairman of The University of Texas African and African Diaspora Studies Department, had 34.56 percent of the vote, or 3,622 votes.

David "D" Thompson, a former teacher, school administrator and community minister, had 28.45 percent of the vote, or 2,982 votes. Retired educator P. Kevin Bryant had 18.73 percent of the vote, or 1,963 votes. Stanton Strickland, associate commissioner of the legal department at the Texas Department of Insurance, had 18.25 percent of the vote, or 1,913 votes.

The District 1 seat is currently held by Cheryl Bradley, who is not seeking re-election.

District 6

In a tight race headed for a runoff, Paul Saldaa, former Tri-Chair of the AISD Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools, took the lead in early voting for the District 6 seat. After Election Day votes were counted, Saldaa appeared to be likely to win with 35.20 percent of the vote, or 5,541 votes, according to unofficial results.

"I'm grateful that I'll be in the runoff," Saldaa told Community Impact Newspaper.

Saldaa said his core campaign strategy will not change heading into the December runoffs.

"I think that one of the challenges for the local races—and the school board races obviously in particular—is that we were at the bottom of the ballot. So I think this time around with the runoff because it will be a shorter ballot, I think we will be able to generate more interest and attention and make sure that we have a better turnout," he said.

According to the unofficial results, former teacher Kate Mason-Murphy had 34.20 percent of the vote, or 5,541 votes, and will also be on the runoff ballot. Monica Sanchez, former Austin Council of PTAs president, had 30.55 percent of the vote, or 4,809 votes.

Current trustee Lori Moya did not seek re-election to District 6, which includes parts of Southwest Austin and Central Austin.

At-Large Position 9

Unofficial results for At-Large Position 9 showed small-business co-owner and consultant Kendall Pace lead with 39.67 percent of the vote, or 37,842 votes. Pace has said she would make improvements in the district such as increasing the equity and flexibility in funding at the campus level.

University of Texas professor Hillary Procknow, who has 24.23 percent of the vote, or 23,109 votes, will face Pace in the runoff. Procknow had announced in October that she was endorsing fellow Position 9 candidate Kazique Prince.

Nael Chavez, founder of Enlightened Warrior Boot Camp, has 15.97 percent of the vote, or 15,235 votes. Prince, founder and CEO of local firm Jelani Consulting LLC, has 11.86 percent of the vote, or 11,310 votes. Retired educator Andy M. Trimino has 8.28 percent of the vote, or 7,894 votes, according to unofficial results.

At-Large Place 9 is currently held by Tamala Barksdale, who did not seek re-election.

AISD trustees serve four-year terms. More information about elections is available at www.austinisd.org.

Posted 7:30 p.m. CST

Voters will decide on their local representative for five contested seats on the Austin ISD board of trustees, with many of the races poised for runoffs in December.

The AISD board comprises nine seats, and elections are being held for single-member trustee districts 1, 4, 6 and 7, and Trustee At-Large Position 9. The school district serves about 85,000 students at 128 schools.

AISD has geographic districts, and in this election each resident could vote for a candidate to represent his or her area as well as for a candidate to represent the district at large.

A runoff election will take place if a candidate in any race does not receive at least 50 percent of the vote. All results are unofficial until canvassed.

At-Large Position 9

Early voting results for At-Large Position 9 show small-business co-owner and consultant Kendall Pace is in the lead with 41.43 percent of the vote, or 22,709 votes. Pace has said she would make improvements in the district such as increasing the equity and flexibility in funding at the campus level.

University of Texas professor Hillary Procknow has 23.63 percent of the vote, or 12,955 votes. Procknow announced in October that she was endorsing fellow Position 9 candidate Kazique Prince.

Nael Chavez, founder of Enlightened Warrior Boot Camp, has 14.97 percent of the vote, or 8,203 votes. Prince, founder and CEO of local firm Jelani Consulting LLC, has 12.23 percent of the vote, or 6,702 votes. Retired educator Andy M. Trimino has 7.74 percent of the vote, or 4,244 votes.

At-Large Place 9 is currently held by Tamala Barksdale, who is not seeking re-election.

District 1

District 1 consists of parts of Central Austin and East Austin. Early voting tallies show Edmund T. Gordon, associate professor and chairman of The University of Texas African and African Diaspora Studies Department, has 35.56 percent of the vote, or 2,122 votes.

David "D" Thompson, a former teacher, school administrator and community minister, has 28.38 percent of the vote, or 1,694 votes. Retired educator P. Kevin Bryant has 18.20 percent of the vote, or 1,086 votes. Stanton Strickland, associate commissioner of the legal department at the Texas Department of Insurance, has 17.86 percent of the vote, or 1,066 votes.

The District 1 seat is currently held by Cheryl Bradley, who is not seeking re-election.

District 4

In District 4, community volunteer Julie Cowan is poised to take the trustee seat with 77.84 percent of the vote, or 10,934 votes. Candidate Karen Flanagan, who is a nurse, dietician and urban farmer, has 22.16 percent of the vote, or 3,112 votes.

"I'm really thrilled," Cowan said of the early voting results.

Cowan said she was at the polls Nov. 4 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and visited polling locations during early voting as well.

"It's fun; you get to meet a lot of the other candidates, particularly in the city council races, and it kind of becomes a camaraderie to be out there talking to [them]. It's always educational, and these may be people that we work with, city council candidates at least in the future so I think it's a good start to a friendship."

Trustee Vincent Torres, who serves as the board's president, announced in June that he would not seek another term on the board. The district represents parts of Northwest Austin as well as Central Austin.

District 6

Paul Saldaa, former Tri-Chair of the AISD Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools, has 36.14 percent of the vote, or 3,214 votes, for the District 6 seat.

Former teacher Kate Mason-Murphy has 34.37 percent of the vote, or 3,056 votes. Monica Sanchez, former Austin Council of PTAs president, has 29.49 percent of the vote, or 2,622 votes.

Current trustee Lori Moya did not seek re-election to District 6, which includes parts of Southwest Austin and Central Austin.

District 7

Robert Schneider, the incumbent for District 7 in Southwest Austin, has the lead with 53.89 percent of the vote, or 6,014 votes, according to unofficial early voting numbers. Challenger Yasmin Wagner has 46.11 percent of the vote, or 5,145 votes. Top issues for the area include enrollment and overcrowding as well as the district's proposed south high school.

More information about elections is available at www.austinisd.org.