The May 4th Joint, General, Special Bond Election races included school board trustees, city council seats and bonds for Bexar County’s smaller cities, and seats for the Bexar County Appraisal District.
NEISD
The high-stakes — and high-dollar — trustee election for the North East Independent School District returned San Antonio’s second largest school district to a solid moderate board majority.
Voters gave decisive victories to all five moderate candidates on the ballot, ending a year of stalemates between three moderate and three conservative trustees, and likely bringing years of heated debate over culture war issues like masks, library books and curriculum down to a simmer. Read more from TPR's Education Reporter Camille Phillips.
Place 1:
- Michael Gurwitz 1,253 (29.83%)
- Lisa Thompson 2,947 (70.17) ☑️
Place 2 (unexpired term):
- Rhonda Rowland 276 (15.62%)
- Tracie Shelton 1,015 (57.44%) ☑️
- Jacqueline Klein 476 (26.94%)
Place 4:
- Jack Hoyle 590 (30.29%)
- David Beyer 1,358 (69.71%) ☑️
Place 5:
- Dick "Raz" Rasmussen 1,374 (38.55%)
- Chris Evans 251 (7.04%)
- Melinda Cox 1,939 (54.41) ☑️
Place 6:
- Steve Hilliard 1,179 (35.82%)
- Terri Chidgey 2,112 (64.18%) ☑️
Southwest ISD
Southwest ISD's three incumbent trustees won reelection Saturday in a low turnout race.
Because of the unusual way Southwest conducts elections, the SWISD trustee races are on a separate ballot. Voters can only access those ballots at a handful of locations inside the school district.
The three incumbents defeated challengers who campaigned to add SWISD elections to the same ballot as the rest of Bexar County’s elections.
In an ISD w/ 14k students, only 827 people traveled to the handful of polling sites w/ @swisd ballots. And SWISD is an at-large district, meaning everyone who lives in it is eligible to vote for all 7 trustees. https://t.co/fxhrp3YIUK
— Camille Phillips - Texas Public Radio (@cmpcamille) May 5, 2024
- Carla Reyes Medina 252 (10.1%)
- Yolanda Garza-Lopez 279 (11.2%)
- Florinda "Flo" Bernal 479 (19.3%) ☑️
- Daniel Carrillo 520 (20.9%) ☑️
- James Sullivan Jr. 525 (21.1%) ☑️
- Pete "Pedro" Bernal 276 (11.1%)
Medina Valley ISD
Medina Valley ISD voters have approved a $249 million bond to build a middle school and two elementary schools. A second $41 million proposition also gained approval Saturday that will allow the district to improve its high school stadiums. Medina Valley voters approved a $376 million bond last year to build the district’s second high school. MVISD is one of several districts on the outskirts of Bexar County with projected enrollment growth.
Proposition A: The issuance of $249,150,000 in bonds for school facilities and land, with priority given to Middle School #3, Elementary Schools #7 and #8, physical education improvements to Medina Valley High School, and district-wide safety and security, and the levy of taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds. This is a property tax increase.
- For: 959 (63%) ☑️
- Against: 555 (37%)
Proposition B: The issuance of $40,850,000 in bonds for Panther Stadium at Medina Valley High School and stadium facilities at New High School No. 2, and the levy of taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds. This is a property tax increase.
- For: 818 (54%) ☑️
- Against: 697 (46%)
Alamo Colleges District:
Longtime Alamo Colleges District trustee Gene Sprague — who has served for over 30 years — won reelection against Nicolette M. Ardiente
The Alamo Colleges District had one trustee seat on the ballot. Two other trustee races were canceled because the candidates were unopposed.
Trustee, Place 6:
- Gene Sprague 1,820 (54.04%) ☑️
- Nicolette M. Ardiente 1,548 (45.96%)
Bexar Appraisal District
Saturday's municipal elections marked the first time Texas residents could elect the people overseeing property tax appraisals.
Voters approved the new elections for many appraisal district boards last year as part of a measure to cut over $12 billion in property tax cuts.
Bexar County voters elected Naomi Elizabeth Miller to the Appraisal District Place 1 seat. The longtime district director to former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus defeated business consultant Ana Campos.
For Place 2, there will be a June 15 runoff between real estate developer and consultant Erika Hizel and realtor Stephen Spears.
For Place 3, Robert Bruce, founder of the Boerne Stage Airfield, will face G.L. “Larry” Lamborn, a retired CIA and Army Reserve officer, in the June 15 runoff.
Place No. 1
- Naomi Elizabeth Miller 16,623 (52.89%) ☑️
- Anna Campos 14,809 (47.11%)
Place No. 2
- Erika Hizel 10,931 (34.86%)
- Stephen Spears 10,725 (34.2%)
- Yen Yan 9,702 (30.94%)
*Erika Hizel and Stephen Spears will face a runoff election on June 15
Place No. 3
- G.L. "Larry" Lamborn 7,130 (24.28%)
- Bradley Frerich 4,596 (15.65%)
- Robert Bruce 10,991 (37.43%)
- Mel Bayne 6,646 (22.63%)
*Robert Bruce and G.L. "Larry" Lamborn face a runoff election on June 15
City of Balcones Heights Mayor
Balcones Heights Mayor Suzanne de Leon, who has been in office since 2008, has lost her bid for re-election by one vote to former Mayor Johnny Rodriguez. The final vote tally was 90-89.
Rodriguez, who previously served from 2000 to 2002, has been critical of the city's 2021 deal to purchase part ownership of the Wonderland of the Americas Mall.
- Suzanne de Leon 89 (49.72%)
- Johnny Rodriguez 90 (50.28%) ☑️
City of Grey Forrest mayor
Grey Forrest Mayor Amanda Waldrop lost her bid to retain her seat in Saturday’s election. Paul Garro, a former teacher and school administrator, won with 52.96% of the vote.
Waldrop garnered attention after the small city’s entire police force resigned shortly after her election in 2022.
The fallout with the department began after Waldrop was pulled over by Grey Forest police shortly before being elected mayor. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office briefly took over patrolling the city.
Amanda "Mandie" Waldrop 127 (47.04%)
Paul Garro 143 (52.96%) ☑️
City of Terrell Hills Proposition A
"Authorizing the City of Terrell Hills, Texas, to provide that for a person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older that the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on that homestead by the city may not be increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person or that person’s spouse who is sixty- five (65) years of age or older pursuant to Texas Constitution Article VIII, Section 1- b."
- For: 434 (37.58%)
- Against: 721 (62.42%) ☑️
City of Shavano Park Proposition A
"Whether the Shavano Crime Control and Prevention District should be continued and the crime control and prevention district sales tax should be continued."
- For 208 (90.83%) ☑️
- Against 21 (9.17%)
City of Elmendorf mayor
- Clayton J. Redmon Sr. 18 (30.51%)
- Mike Gonzales 41 (69.49%) ☑️
City of Leon Valley mayor
- Evan Bohl 90 (18.71%)
- Chris Riley 391 (81.29%) ☑️
City of Somerset mayor
Lydia Padilla Hernandez 220 (71.9%) ☑️
Ricardo Abundes 86 (28.1%)
Visit the Bexar County Elections Department for full results.