Hinaman is the sole incumbent who sought re-election this year, and she was successful in her race. Newcomers include LeCompte, a business owner; Ray, who works in business development; and local Realtor Kalmbach. All four have had children attend CFISD schools.Diving in deeper
Although school boards in Texas are nonpartisan, LeCompte, Ray and Kalmbach were endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party, among other conservative elected officials and groups.
"One thing is clear from the results of this election—we know how to pick winners,” said Cindy Siegel, chair of the party, in a Nov. 8 news release. “Voters across Houston and Harris County are hungry for change from strong Republican candidates who they know will improve their communities through commonsense, conservative policies.”
The other three sitting board members—Natalie Blasingame, Scott Henry and Lucas Scanlon—have two more years left before their seats are up for election in 2025. Each of them also ran as conservative Republicans during the 2021 election.
Hinaman and her campaign partners—CFISD volunteers and parents Tonia Jaeggi, Leslie Martone and Frances Ramirez Romero—did not claim affiliation with any one political party. They were endorsed by the nonpartisan organization Cypress Families for Public Schools, among other community leaders and organizations.
“These women were excellent candidates who ran an honorable campaign that mobilized and united thousands in our community. ... Sadly, the CFISD school board will be dominated by far right-wing Christian Nationalist extremists for the next two years. Fear, lies and big outside money persuaded folks to vote against our children’s future,” CFPS President Lesley Guilmart said in a Nov. 8 social media statement.
Remember this?
This wasn’t the first run for office for any of these four candidates.
- LeCompte ran for the CFISD board in 2021, earning 1.8% of votes in his race, which Blasingame ultimately won.
- After being unanimously appointed to fill a vacancy on the board in June 2019, Hinaman ran unopposed and was first elected to the board in November 2019.
- Ray served as a Jersey Village City Council member from 2012-15 and as mayor of the city from 2015-19. He also campaigned to represent Texas House District 135 in 2020, losing the general election to state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, by 300 votes.
- Kalmbach ran for Texas House District 138 in the March 2022 Republican primary, earning 16% of votes in her race, which state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, ultimately won.
CFISD officials said in a Nov. 8 news release that about 55,000 votes were cast in each race out of 369,358 registered voters in the district. This year’s turnout is up from roughly 35,000 votes cast in each race in the last CFISD school board race in November 2021, according to the Harris County Clerk’s Office’s elections department.
What else?
New trustees will be sworn in at the Dec. 7 board work session, district officials said in the release.
Community Impact has reached out to each of the successful candidates for comment and will update this story as they respond. All results are unofficial until canvassed.