The race for a seat on the Alamo Schools District board is headed for a high-stakes runoff between accountant Robert Garcia, who drew help from an extended record of native political leaders, and Carolyn DeLecour, who led the college senate and has the backing of some deep-pocketed lecturers’ unions.
In a four-way race, Garcia took 29.2% to DeLecour’s 28.9% — slicing out trustee Leslie Sachanowicz, who has held the seat since 2020 however took simply 26.3% of the vote.
A fourth candidate, former trustee Joe Jesse Sanchez, took 15.6%.
Since no candidate reached the 50% threshold required to win outright, Garcia and DeLecour will face off in a June 13 runoff with doubtless nothing else on the poll.
Sachanowicz, a 68-year-old legal professional, ran a reasonably quiet marketing campaign, refusing to boost donations and as a substitute lending himself $7,500 to cowl marketing campaign bills. His reelection bid in District 9 was endorsed by the Republican Get together of Bexar County.
The unusually hard-fought reelection race with three challengers got here as Texas has positioned powerful restrictions on greater schooling, together with taking out elected college senates, putting restrictions on which kinds of programs public universities can supply and rooting out campus variety efforts.
Garcia, 45, is a licensed public accountant who far outpaced the opposite candidates in marketing campaign donations, and weathered a late-breaking assault over his teen arrest report, which he mentioned was a response to the momentum behind his marketing campaign.
“Popping out on high is superior,” Garcia mentioned after the ultimate outcomes had been in. “All of us form of break up in several methods by way of group help, we knew that. However we’re grateful that we got here out on high. I believe by way of the runoff, it was an expectation. We’ve got our technique prepared and we go to work on Monday.”
On election evening, Garcia mentioned he’s by no means tried to cover the arrest, however the considered it being introduced up so publicly did make him uncomfortable.
The report was introduced ahead by an nameless Alamo Schools worker who mentioned voters wanted to find out about it earlier than placing Garcia in a fiduciary position. Within the aftermath of the information, nonetheless, Garcia mentioned he’s obtained nothing however help.
“It was very nice to see that. It was virtually like a eulogy,” Garcia mentioned concerning the response on social media. “Seeing that each one of those people are sharing and simply saying, ‘Hey, I completely help him. We’d like folks with lived expertise. We don’t want ‘flawless folks’ or those who expunged it. We’d like those who, you recognize, have had these challenges.’”
He reported greater than $19,000 in marketing campaign donations in his early April report and almost $15,000 extra by the top of the month.
DeLecour, 77, a lifelong educator who taught at Palo Alto School for 27 years, earned the help of school members and associations. In her marketing campaign she mentioned she aimed to higher symbolize the in any other case silenced voices of the greater than 900 full-time college members and greater than 6,000 college and workers members mixed.
She’s able to hit the bottom operating forward of the runoff, she mentioned on election evening.
“I’m dedicated to doing this and I’ve the very best group of individuals on the planet working with me,” DeLecour mentioned. “However we nonetheless have work to do and it implies that it’s each vote issues after which each voice issues and so I’m able to do no matter it’s that that that I’m requested to do.”
Larger-ed political woes rock sleepy Alamo Schools board race
At a current marketing campaign occasion, she additionally burdened the necessity for the board to have extra college illustration on this present political surroundings.
“I’m all about respect and belief for college, and I don’t see a whole lot of that occuring lately,” DeLecour instructed a gathering of the North East Bexar County Democrats. “Plenty of [community college] boards are saying, ‘Effectively, it’s legislation, we will’t do something about it’ … I’ve talked to another school districts, and I believe there are some issues that we will do.”
The 9-member Alamo Schools District Board oversees coverage route for 5 independently accredited group schools in San Antonio — San Antonio School, Palo Alto School, St. Philip’s School, Northwest Vista School and Northeast Lakeview School — which serve almost 86,000 college students.
Trustees serve staggered six-year phrases.
In 2025, the voters authorised a $987 million bond, the most important within the district’s historical past, meant to construct new services that can increase a few of their most sought-after packages together with these in healthcare, engineering and automotive expertise.
On election evening, Sachanowicz mentioned he was happy with how far his technique of not counting on marketing campaign donations or owing any favors took him.
“It’s what it’s,” Sachanowicz mentioned. “One attention-grabbing factor to notice just isn’t the share variations between me and [Garcia], it’s to take a look at the variety of votes. And you consider how a lot you spent to get these votes?”
