El Paso Matters – Who’s leading in Canutillo ISD board election; Macias reelected to Clint ISD board

Incumbent Armando “Mando” Rodriguez, as well as Lily Maldonado, Carolina Ortega and Laure Searls, have taken the lead in the 10-way race for four at-large seats on the Canutillo Independent School District Board of Trustees, early voting results show.

Maldonado, an El Paso ISD teacher who used to work for Canutillo ISD, earned 14% of the early vote.

“I’m thankful to the voters, those that have confidence in me,” Maldonado said. “I’m looking forward to working to make the district better. The district is great right now, however it does need some improvement, especially with the bond. We need to make sure that money is spent the way the district promised.

Rodriguez, who was first elected in 2005 and is the board’s president, received 13% of the early vote.

“I’m extremely grateful to the supporters that I’ve had, whether it’s family or my Canutillo community,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve seen the good work that we’ve done over the years and the work that we’re going to continue to do.”

Ortega, a stay-at-home mom, got 12% of the early vote, while Searls got 10%.

“Thank you to all the people that were involved,” Ortega said. “As soon as I get into office I want to make sure we have a lot of positions that we don’t lose employees, you know, because of the budget.”

“Thank you to Canutillo,” Searls said. “I’m so grateful our community is such a great one, and showed the support they are showing.”

In the trustee race in the Clint Independent School District, longtime incumbent Maria “Mary” Macias has been reelected, early voting results show. She received 67% of the early votes, while her opponent, Ignacio “Nacho” Martinez trails with 33%.

The district trustee races are nonpartisan.

In the partisan race for the District 1 seat on the Texas State Board of Education, Democrat Gustavo Reveles has a significant lead over Republican challenger Michael “Travis” Stevens, early voting results in El Paso County show. Most counties in the district have not reported early voting numbers.

Reveles, 49, the communications director for the Canutillo Independent School District, received 61% of the early votes in El Paso. Stevens, 43, the academic dean for the San Antonio Independent School District, received 39%.

“I’m hopeful right now with the early voting results here in El Paso and throughout the district that this will go the way that we want it,” Reveles said.

Canutillo ISD

Though former trustee Blanca Trout’s name appeared on the Canutillo ISD ballot, she resigned from her position and dropped out of the race in October after the deadline to officially withdraw from the election.

The four newly elected trustees will begin their four-year, unpaid term later this month as the district begins work on a $379 million bond project approved by voters in May to replace some of its aging facilities with new schools.

They will also be tasked with addressing the district’s ongoing budget deficit. In June, the board approved a $67.2 million budget with a $2.75 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year, with no pay raises for most of its employees.

School board members’ duties include hiring, firing and evaluating the superintendent, adopting an annual budget, and setting tax rates. They must also implement policies and goals for the district to follow and can adopt curriculum that has been approved by the state.

Clint ISD

Macias was first elected to the Clint ISD school board in 1998, according to the district’s website, and reelected in November 2022 to serve a two-year term. She is currently the board’s second vice president.

The position is at-large, representing over 10,000 students from Clint, parts of Horizon and East Montana in far East El Paso County. The four-year term on the seven-member board begins later this month.

Trustees Eric Gardea, from District 3, and Isela Torres, from District 5, ran unopposed.

The board approved a $140.3 million budget with a $21.6 million deficit, primarily due to one-time expenses, district leaders have said.

Texas State Board of Education

The new member will join a board embroiled in political controversy over how evolution and climate change are taught in school, whether libraries can ban certain books, and whether Bible teachings can be part of school curriculum.

The SBOE is a 15-member board that has a say in setting curriculum standards for public schools in Texas, reviewing and adopting instructional materials and establishing graduation requirements, among other duties.

The incoming board member will take office in January, replacing Melissa Ortega of El Paso, who didn’t seek reelection after serving a single two-year term. Ortega, a Democrat, defeated Stevens in 2022. The position is a four-year term. 

District 1 includes 30 counties throughout West and South-Central Texas, including El Paso.

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