With an additional 1,810 votes tallied from the first count of election day voting, unofficial final results show Victor Perez has won the race for Katy ISD board of trustees Position 1 with 51.3%, or 5,718 total votes.
He beat out incumbent Donald K. "Duke" Keller, who followed with 24.2%, or 2,698 total votes including early, absentee and election day voting. Eliz Markowitz had 18.5%, or 2,056 votes; Cicely Taylor had 4.5%, or 506 votes; and Saki Krishnamurthy had 1.5%, or 161 of the votes.
All 13 precincts are reporting totals at this time. Some 11,182 of 221,853, or 5.04% registered voters, are included in the count.
Perez has lived within KISD for 18 years, according to the district's voter guide. When asked in a Community Impact Newspaper questionnaire how he planned to manage growth in the district, he said he also considers its increasing diversity and growth in enrollment. He offered multiple solutions.
"Solutions [for managing growth in Katy ISD] include making sure we retain and attract teachers so that we can reduce class sizes, making sure we have a strong focus on [English as a Second Language], [offering] technical and trades opportunities, and [committing] robust funding for special education," Perez said in the questionnaire.
Perez could not be reached for comment on election night.
All results are unofficial until canvassed and certified by the county clerk. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide for all primary election results in your community.
Posted: 8:50 p.m.
Early voting results show Victor Perez leads the race for Katy ISD board of trustees Position 1 with 50.6% of the votes, or 3,908 total votes. Perez faces incumbent Donald K. "Duke" Keller and three other opponents in the May 7 election.
As of 8 p.m., the school district is reporting early and absentee vote totals.
Perez is followed by Keller who has received 1,986 votes, or 25.72% of 7,227 early votes. Saki Krishnamurthy received 88 votes, or 1.14% of early votes; Eliz Markowitz had 1,370 votes, or 17.7% of votes; and Cicely Taylor received 374 votes, or 4.8% of early votes.
The board of trustees acts as the school district’s policy-making body and is the official trustee of the people for all public education in Katy ISD. Each position in Katy ISD’s board of trustees serves three-year terms, and two of the seven positions on the board are up for election this year. Though the board is comprised of seven members, it only acts officially as one group, according to the KISD website.
The board elects a president, vice president and secretary among the positions to serve one-year terms. It also selects and employs the superintendent. The superintendent advises board members on all matters concerning school management, according to the KISD website.
All results are unofficial until canvassed and certified by the county clerk. Visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide for all primary election results in your community.
