Allen, Blueford-Daniels win HISD posts
School board candidates will join two other newcomers as voters remake district board
Houston ISD school board candidates Kathy Blueford-Daniels and Patricia Allen will join the district’s remade governance team in January after cruising to comfortable victories in their runoff races Saturday.
With absentee and early ballots counted, as well as 84 percent of voting centers reporting, Blueford-Daniels earned 62 percent of the vote in her race against City Council aide John C. Gibbs, while Allen tallied 55 percent of the vote in her runoff with management consultant Matt Barnes.
Blueford-Daniels, a retired postal manager, entered her race as a clear favorite after nearly winning the HISD District II seat outright. Allen, however, prepared for a close race in HISD District IV against Barnes after both candidates earned about 30 percent of the vote in a four-person general election.
The two victors Saturday will join two newcomers who defeated incumbents in November’s general election. Judith Cruz and Dani Hernandez easily topped Diana Dávila and Sergio Lira, respectively, each earning about 64 percent of the vote.
The four new trustees will be seated in January, but their tenure in power likely will only last a matter of months.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is expected to strip power from HISD’s nine elected trustees and appoint a replacement board in the coming months, the result of chronically low performance at HISD’s Wheatley High School and multiple findings of misconduct by school board members.
HISD trustees and the district’s largest teachers union are suing to stop the takeover. A federal judge heard a motion for a preliminary
injunction filed by the two groups earlier this month. No ruling has been issued.
Blueford-Daniels and Gibbs ran to represent District II, which covers large swaths of northwestern and northeastern Houston. Incumbent Rhonda Skillern-Jones did not seek re-election, choosing instead to run this year for the Houston Community College Board of Trustees.
Blueford-Daniels said she believed her extensive work in the greater Fifth Ward community, combined with a diligent and transparent campaign, would carry her to victory.
“We worked our butts off, and people have known me for the last 13 years,” said Blueford-Daniels, who became a local activist following the 2006 murder of her 20year-old son, Patrick. “My intent is to work closely with the administration, the superintendent, the other trustees, the community and the children themselves.”
Allen and Barnes sought to represent District IV, which spans parts of downtown and south-central Houston. Incumbent Jolanda Jones opted not to seek re-election and filed earlier this week to run for Harris County tax assessor in 2020.
Allen entered the race with strong name recognition as a 35year veteran of HISD and the daughter of state Rep. Alma Allen, D-Houston. Her tenure in HISD included nine years as principal of MacGregor Elementary School, which is located within District IV.
Voters “felt the educator would have a little more of an edge,” Allen said. “I’m just grateful it turned out this way. With as much money as the others had to spend, it was a surprise.”
Barnes pitched voters largely on his dedication to raising literacy rates and experience serving on multiple nonprofit governing boards. He became a fundraising powerhouse, as far as HISD races go, totaling about $140,000 in donations through early December to Allen’s $5,700.