Harris County Political Parties Endorse Houston ISD School Board Candidates

Regardless of who is elected to the Houston ISD board of trustees in November, they won’t have any power — but both major political parties are endorsing candidates in the nonpartisan race, with the Harris County Democratic Party doing so for the first time ever.

Due to a 2023 state takeover, HISD’s governing authority is a board of managers appointed by the Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. The elected panel doesn’t have a vote and can’t sit in on executive sessions.

Nonetheless, officials with Harris County’s GOP and Democratic Party are making sure voters know which candidates espouse their party’s values when they go to the polls on November 4. The endorsements carry some weight but don’t guarantee victory, according to a Republican Party precinct chair, but the bigger picture is that it appears the religious right and the progressive left are attempting to take over all levels of government, starting at the most local races, where they say it matters most.

The Harris County Democratic Party’s picks for HISD include Felicity Pereyra (District 1), Maria Benzon (District 5), Michael McDonough (District 6), Dr. Audrey Nath (District 7), and Myrna Guidry (District 9).

The candidates “share a commitment to strong public schools, equity in education, and the democratic values that empower Houston families,” said Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle.

“At this point, unfortunately, the Trumpsters have turned school districts into an ideological playground and parents, teachers, and families are in a position where, unless they have the most qualified folks identified, they’re not necessarily going to know who [to vote for], so we felt an important need to speak out,” he said.

Doyle acknowledged that HISD’s “puppet” board of managers has the authority, but said the elected trustees have oversight responsibility.

“At this point, because of folks basically trying to kill public schools in favor of vouchers, with the takeover, they don’t have the authority to do what they need to do to protect,” he said. “They’re basically just oversight, calling out the worst abuses, so they’re important positions for that.”

“I think local races are important to every family in Harris County and they have become the place where the worst of the worst in many ways have started to get involved in destroying education,” he added. “It’s reached the point where we’ve got to make sure that folks understand who the ones are who are not the crackpots.”

The Democratic values espoused by the endorsed slate, according to Doyle, include fully funding and supporting public education, properly paying teachers, and “not just trying to destroy the system in favor of billionaires pushing vouchers for profit.”

“I think endorsements matter in a school district that is predominantly Democrat-voting,” he said. “I think it matters because it gives voters a really strong guidepost for who the most effective, willing-to-fight-the-takeover candidates are.”

The Harris County Republican Party endorsed two Houston ISD candidates, Bridget Wade for District 7 and Robbie McDonough for District 5. Harris County GOP Party Chair Cindy Siegel said the party began endorsing school board candidates in 2021 and takes credit for flipping three school boards to a Republican majority.

“I thought having conservative representation on school boards and city councils — local government — was important because that impacts your life more than what goes on in Austin or D.C.,” said Siegel, a former mayor of Bellaire. “Our process has been fine-tuned and sometimes we’ve done a really great job and other times we’ve learned from it. We continue to try to refine the process.”

Siegel said the process is fair and transparent, and candidates are fully vetted through interviews and a series of public forums. If precinct chairs don’t like the bylaws, they’re welcome to submit a resolution to change them, she said.

“We have, more often than not, gotten it right,” she said. “Our job, as party officers, is to try to get Republicans elected, to make your case, whether you’re knocking on doors or talking to friends. Instead of making their case and participating, my frustration was that I felt like some of [the precinct chairs] were like, it’s not going the way I want it to, so I’m going to take my toys and go down the road.”