Voting began Tuesday night, with San Antonio educator Michael Stevens (R) taking a narrow early lead over El Paso school communications specialist Gustavo Revelles (D), state education commissioner. He won a post in the first district of the association.
However, he was then slightly replaced by the former Rebeles.
The Texas Secretary of State’s website reports 386 of 691 precincts, with Revels receiving 50.3% of the vote and Stevens 49.6%.
If the results hold, Democrats will maintain control of the seat previously held by Democrat Melissa Ortega, who chose not to run for reelection on the conservative-dominated board last December. will be done.
This seat represents a large swath of West and Central Texas, including El Paso and parts of Bexar County.
At a watch party held at the Mission Open Air Market on the city’s South Side, Stevens said that in addition to his experience as an educator, he hopes voters have more awareness of the position. He said it led to positive results.
“The emphasis has been on the experience part, and that’s what I’ve been running the campaign for,” he said.
Revels said in a text message that despite the 10% vote difference as of about 9 p.m., he remained optimistic about the outcome, adding, “I look forward to continuing to receive support from across West Texas.” ” he added.
School Board District 3, which includes the entire city of San Antonio, will remain in the hands of incumbent Marisa B. Perez Diaz, as there was no challenge.
Perez-Diaz is the most senior Democrat on the state Board of Education and was first elected in 2012.
Those who win District 1 seats on the 15-member board will help shape education in Texas through responsibilities such as setting curriculum standards, approving charter school applications, and changing graduation requirements, among other things. I will do it.
Debate and positions on these issues have dogged the board for years, including ongoing debate over a state-created curriculum called Bluebonnet Learning that some see as having Christian bias. I have fallen into this.
Both candidates told the San Antonio Report in previous interviews that they intend to reject a curriculum that overemphasizes Christianity.
This campaign seeks to break this cycle from other races by avoiding the thorny disagreements that have dominated education issues, the need for educator-centered governance, and the need for curriculum rigor. , candidates generally agreed on the need to reduce politics in education.
Mr Revels is adamantly opposed to vouchers, a key issue in the general election, while Mr Stevens said he was “neutral” on the subject.
Candidates also agreed that state school governance is too divorced from the guidance of teachers and others at the local level and that state standardized testing needs to be reformed.
Both candidates visited polling stations and showed confidence in the final stages of the election.
Levels said most of the places he visited were quiet, adding in a text message that he was “worried about the national race” but “confident about (my) race.”
Mr. Stevens also visited polling places, including Scarborough Elementary School in the Northside Independent School District, where officials told him to leave and remove signs because “it’s private property and voting is prohibited there.” he claimed.
After the incident, Stevens criticized the district for interfering with candidates’ ability to connect with voters, calling it interference in the democratic process.
“No one was asked to leave campus and no one was escorted off campus,” district spokesman Barry Perez said in an email. He also pointed out that this incident was the only one reported among the 70 polling stations in the district.
“We are investigating this matter and will take appropriate action as necessary to address issues such as miscommunication or inadequate protocol compliance,” Perez said.
San Antonio Reporter Tracy Idell Hamilton contributed to this report.
