In a rebuke to recent conservative education policies in Texas, voters in Mansfield ousted three incumbent school board members Saturday, flipping control of the Mansfield Independent School District during a contentious election season marked by debate over book bans and school vouchers, Newsweek reported.
Three conservative incumbents on the Mansfield Independent School District board were voted out on May 3, as voters backed challengers advocating for stronger public education support and reforms to local governance.
Ana-Alicia Horn, a data management professional in the event ticketing software industry, defeated school board president Keziah Valdes Farrar, who had served since 2021. Horn won with 60.3% of the 12,356 votes cast.
Jason Thomas, who manages road and bridge operations in Tarrant County's Precinct Two, unseated incumbent Craig Tipping in the Place Three race. Thomas received 58.02% of the 12,269 votes, while Tipping, a one-term member with a background in physical therapy and roofing sales, secured 41.98%.
In the third contested seat, Jesse Cannon II, director of visual and performing arts for Fort Worth ISD, defeated incumbent Bianca Benavides Anderson, a sales consultant completing her first term. Cannon earned 58.6% of the 12,163 votes cast.
The results represented a clean sweep for the reform candidates.
More than 63,000 ballots were cast in Tarrant County, representing 5.14% of registered voters. Total turnout countywide reached 98,564, or 7.99%.
The campaign season was fueled by growing political polarization and increased involvement from outside interest groups. Mansfield became a flashpoint in the larger state debate over education policy, including a sharp rise in book bans. Texas led the nation with 625 public school book bans during the 2022–23 academic year.
One Republican, reacting to the board's shift, said, "Mansfield has gone to Hell."
The vote came on the day Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation expanding private school voucher eligibility to more than 5 million Texas students. The law allocates $1 billion over two years to provide public funds for private tuition, making Texas the 16th state to adopt such a policy.
Democrats claimed the election clearly rejected Abbott's school voucher push and related conservative education policies.
"There is something poetic that the day Greg Abbott signs his voucher scam into law, reform candidates in Mansfield ISD are running the table," wrote Democrat state Rep. Chris Turner on X. "Voters are angry about the way our public schools have been treated in #txlege and want strong, pro-public education leaders."
Not all reactions were celebratory. Conservative activist Carlos Turcios posted, "Horrible News in Mansfield Texas. The Radical DEI Left has flipped the conservative school board. Mansfield ISD has capitulated to the DEI-LGBTQ Left."
Meanwhile, the Texas Senate recently passed Senate Bill 13, which would shift book approval authority from librarians to school boards and allow parents to request book removals. The bill, filed by Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, passed 23-8 and now moves to the Texas House.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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