Updated 9 a.m. Nov. 3
With votes from all voting centers counted, incumbent Sue Deigaard and candidate Caroline Walter will head to a runoff in the race for District V on the Houston ISD board of trustees.
Deigaard was ahead with more than 52% of the vote after Early Voting results came in, but Election Day results favored Walter and candidate Maria Benzon enough to bring the race into runoff territory.
Unofficial results show Deigaard with 49.35% of the vote, or 7,841 votes to Walters 36.38%, or 5,779 votes. If no candidate exceeds 50% of the vote by the time all ballots are counted, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a runoff election in December. However, all results are unofficial until canvassed.
Benzon finished with 14.27% of the vote.
Three of the other four HISD board seats up for election this November are headed to runoffs, including the races for districts I, VI and VII. Incumbent Myrna Guidry will retain her seat in District IX. Visit our online Voter Guide for all local election results in your community.
Posted 10:15 p.m. Nov. 2
With early votes counted, incumbent Sue Deigaard is leading Caroline Walter and Maria Benzon in the race for District V on the Houston ISD board of trustees with 52.77% of the vote, or 3,650 votes.
Walter is trailing with 2,206 votes, while Benzon has 1,061 votes. If no candidate exceeds 50% of the vote by the time all ballots are counted, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a runoff election in December.
In a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper, Deigaard said her priorities included achieving goals set by the board in 2020 related to reading, math and special education as well as expanding high-quality pre-K. Meanwhile, Walter called for a budget review and emphasized the importance of returning more power to parents in the district. Benzon said her goals involved improving teacher benefits and lessening the emphasis on standardized testing. All three candidates spoke on the importance of recruiting more high-quality teachers.
HISD’s District V is up for election every four years. A total of 12,431 ballots were cast in the race for District V—which covers University Place, Braeswood Place, city of Bellaire, Gulfton, Meyerland, among other areas—in November 2017.
Deigaard faced three other candidates during the November 2017 election, but avoided a runoff by netting 51.4% of the vote, or 5,599 votes.
The HISD election takes place as the school board faces a number of challenges, including making up for learning loss that was seen during the coronavirus pandemic. District officials released a plan in July on how they will spend more than $1 billion in federal dollars designed to help schools recover from the pandemic.The district also brought on Millard House II as its new superintendent this summer.
In addition to District V, several other HISD board seats were up for election this November, including districts I, VI, VII and IX.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit our online Voter Guide for all local election results in your community.
