Election results show three of five races with incumbents winning Fort Worth school board races
Three Fort Worth school board incumbents appeared headed for reelection on Saturday night.
Trustee seats for Districts 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 are up for grabs. The District 1 election is uncontested while the District 9 election could end in a runoff. Incumbent Jacinto Ramos Jr, 46, is running unopposed for the District 1 seat to represent northwest Fort Worth. He was first elected to a four-year term in 2013.
Unofficial results below are for early voting plus 168 of the 173 total voting centers in Tarrant County reporting.
District 4
In District 4, which represents part of south Fort Worth, Daphne Brookins led Wallace Bridges, 76% to 24%.
Brookins was elected in 2019 after former trustee T.A. Sims resigned during his term. She is a social service specialist and former Forest Hill Mayor Pro Tem and council member and recently worked for Tarrant County as a youth administrator.
Brookins told the Star-Telegram she has seen areas where children and families in District 2 need continued advocacy and thinks she is the candidate to champion their needs.
District 7
This east Fort Worth district will go to either incumbent Norman Robbins and challenger Michael Ryan.
Ryan held a 63% lead over Robbins’ 37%.
Robbins, a real estate agent with Williams Trew Real Estate, was first elected in 2004. Ryan is the former executive director of fine arts with Fort Worth schools.
Ryan said he wants to focus on making sure money goes to classrooms and increasing teacher and para-professional staff pay. He ran for the same position in 2017, an election Robbins won. Ryan said he also wants to see better communication between the district and stakeholders in the community, telling the Star-Telegram that it’s one of his top priorities.
District 8
Incumbent Anael Luebanos faced Brianna C. Guerrero to represent schools in southeast Fort Worth.
Luebanos held a 74% lead over Guerrero, who earned 26%.
Luebanos, first elected to the four-year term in 2017, works as an accountant. Luebanos said his fight for the students in District 8 is not over and that’s why she’s running for reelection. He said the primary challenge facing the district right now is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but also wants to place a focus on attracting and retaining talented teachers.
District 9
Other schools in southeast Fort Worth will have a new representative as incumbent Ashley Paz is not seeking reelection.
Paz, one of the most progressive voices on the board, was first elected in 2013 and will be replaced by Roxanne Martinez, Cade Lovelace or Michael A. Shedd.
Roxanne Martinez led with 48.8% of the vote, followed by Cade Lovelace with 27.9% and Michael A. Shedd with 23.2%.
Martinez graduated from the Fort Worth school district and has worked on several committees and with many Fort Worth ISD organizations. She wants to see a greater focus on student outcomes, equity and community-school partnerships.
If none of the candidates have more than 50% of the vote when all ballots are counted, the two with the most votes will face each other in a runoff election on June 5.
