AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is holding an election for all 15 seats on the Texas State Board of Education on Nov. 8, 2022. All primary runoffs are scheduled for May 24, 2022, if needed.
After the polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Texas State Board of Education races involving district’s representing Central Texas had very different outcomes.
Republican Mark Loewe and Democrat Rebecca Bell-Metereau will face off in November for the District 5 State Board seat, while Tom Maynard, the incumbent in District 10, will reclaim his seat after running unopposed in his primary with no Democratic candidate to face either. Maynard was the only candidate for either party to run for District 10.
District 5 is made up of the southern part of Travis County and northern parts of Bexar, Hays, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Gillespie, Llano, Mason and San Saba counties. District 10 includes the northern part of Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Bell, Bastrop, Fayette, Lee, Washington, Austin, Burleson, Milam, Falls, Roberson, Leon, Limestone, Freestone and Madison counties.
Here is how the District 5 race shook out:
Republican primary results:
- Mark Loewe – 53%
- Robert Morrow – 47%
Democratic primary results:
- Rebecca Bell-Metereau (incumbent) – 74%
- Kevin Guico – 6%
- Juan Juarez – 20%
District 10 seat stays warm for Maynard
Tom Maynard has represented District 10 since 2013 and that won’t change after this election cycle. Maynard was the only candidate to run for either the Republican side or the Democratic side to represent this district’s board seat.
Maynard beat Democratic candidate Judy Jennings in the 2012 and 2016 elections. He then won his third election in 2020 after defeating Democratic candidate Marsha Burnett-Webster and Libertarian candidate Trip Seibold.
Here is a look at the candidates:
Mark Loewe:
Loewe is a researcher and a textbook co-author. He earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry and physics from the University of California at Irvine and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Loewe breaks down his priorities to effort as a board member on this website. He is focused on and concerned about the performance of American children in mathematics and science.
Read more about Loewe on his campaign page here.
Robert Morrow:
Morrow is a former Travis County Republican Party chair who is running for the District 5 seat again after an unsuccessful campaign in 2020. In 2020, he advanced to a runoff against Lani Popp after receiving 40% of that March primary. He is known as the man who called then-President Donald Trump a “child rapist.” Morrow lost to Popp in the runoff in 2020.
Morrow is also well-known for wearing a jester’s hat. He has said that he would ensure Texas students learn about his theories that former President Trump was a child abuser and that Lyndon B. Johnson assassinated John F. Kennedy.
All Republicans on the board endorsed Popp over Morrow in 2020, expressing concerns about his beliefs, according to KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman. The Statesman reported that the Travis County Republican Party, which Morrow briefly chaired in 2016 before running for president, also opposed him, calling him misogynist.
Democratic Candidates:
Rebecca Bell-Metereau:
Bell-Metereau is the incumbent for the District 5 seat. She assumed office in January 2021 and her current term ends January 2023. She earned both her bachelor's and graduate degree from Indiana University. She then earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1981. Bell-Metereau also worked as a professor of English at Texas State University.
According to her campaign website, Bell-Metereau is concerned about efforts to censor books in school libraries in Texas and about history curriculum not being inclusive.
Read more about Bell-Metereau here.
Kevin Guico:
Guico is an Asian-American district educator, community organizer, education nonprofit leader and public education advocate. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific in 2014.
Guico said he is running for the District 5 seat to add diversity to the board. If elected, he would become the first Asian-American to serve on the board.
Among his priorities are responsiveness and resilience in student wellness and achievement; local representation in committees and student-reflective curriculum; developing and advocating for policies to ensure board meetings are centered on students; and limiting any political distractions
Read more about Guico here on his campaign page.
Juan Juarez:
Juarez is an educator and a high school principal and has more than 11 years of experience working in and leading exceptional secondary schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University in 2011 and a graduate degree from Trinity University in 2014.
Juarez listed out his priorities if he were elected to the board seat, broken down into the following categories: state standards and instructional materials, teacher and principal learning standards and funding and charter schools.
Read more about Juarez here.
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