The balance of power on El Paso Independent School District’s governing board of trustees appears likely to shift as four aligned candidates lead their opponents in early voting Saturday.
Four incumbent trustees were on the ballot this year, and two of them – Leah Hanany, with 56% of the early vote, and Jack Loveridge with 73% of the early vote – appear highly likely to hold their seats.
Incumbents Isabel Hernandez and Israel Irrobali, the school board’s current president, appear to be headed for a loss.
Hanany has represented District 1 on the board since 2021. Loveridge was appointed to represent District 3 last year.
Mindy Sutton, who challenged Hernandez in the District 4 race, appears likely to win her race with 57% of the early vote. And Robert Osterland leads Irrobali with 51% of the early vote in the District 5 race.
The leading candidates appeared likely to shift the majority between two factions within the board. The factions were created when the board voted in November to close eight elementary schools next year to address declining enrollment and budget deficits. About 270 employees are being reassigned to other schools.
Sutton, Loveridge, Hanany and Osterland were endorsed by the El Paso Teachers Association, an employee union that opposed EPISD’s plan to close eight schools. Irrobali and Hernandez voted in favor of shuttering schools.
Four of the eight schools EPISD plans to close next year are in Districts 1 and 3. The question of what to do with soon-to-be-empty campuses – whether to sell, repurpose or pursue some other option – is the next challenge for the school board.
In early voting (rounded):
District 1 (Bowie/El Paso high schools area)
- Monica Elena Benjamin, 50, stay-at-home mother and office administrator: 41%
- Leah Hanany, 42, EPISD District 1 trustee and financial advisor: 56%
- Nelson Bank, 75, former teacher: 3%
District 3 (Austin high area)
- Jack Loveridge, 40, digital history startup founder, EPISD District 3 trustee: 73%
- John Ponce De Leon, 39, public relations director: 27%
District 4 (Chapin/Irvin high areas)
- Mindy Sutton, 44, senior instructor at the Otero County Detention Center: 57%
- Isabel Hernandez, 64, retired and EPISD District 4 trustee: 38%
- Juan Duran, 57, special education teacher: 4%
District 5 (Andress high area)
- Robert Osterland, 48, a retired veteran and nonprofit youth basketball coach: 51%
- Melvin Milton, 44, mobility manager in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: 16%
- Israel Irrobali, 34, executive director of the El Paso Association of Contractors and EPISD District 4 trustee: 33% .
Newly elected trustees will take office this summer. Trustees are unpaid and serve four-year terms. The seats are nonpartisan.
The seven-member board governs the 49,000-student district, sets its vision, oversees the superintendent, adopts the annual operating budget and sets the tax rate. The current board adopted a budget of $542 million with a $18.5 million deficit for this school year.
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