May 26 marks Election Day for the Democratic runoff for the State Board of Education District 5 seat, which covers several Central Texas counties.
Allison Bush led in the Democratic primary runoff for the District 5 seat on the Texas State Board of Education, according to early and incomplete election results. Early returns from Bastrop, Hays and Williamson counties showed Bush with 5,171 votes over Stephanie Limon Bazan with 3,902 votes.
The Texas State Board of Education is a 15-member partisan body that oversees what students learn in school, approves new charter schools and establishes graduation requirements.
Neither candidate received a majority of the votes needed to win outright in the March primary, forcing them into a runoff. The winner will face Republican Mica Arellano in November.
The candidates are vying to replace outgoing SBOE Member Rebecca Bell-Metereau, D-San Marcos, who held the seat for six years and did not run for reelection. District 5 includes Travis, Bastrop, Hays, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Williamson and Blanco counties.
Bush is a former theater and speech teacher in Crosby Independent School District. She has held top roles at education foundations for Bastrop and Pflugerville ISDs, helping to raise funds for the districts. She also served as a school- or district-wide parent teacher association president in Hays, Pflugerville and Bastrop ISDs.
Limon Bazan, an Austin resident and a mother, is a former professor at St. Edward's University. She has served on the Integral Care board of trustees, the city's parks and recreation board and the advisory board of St. Edward's University's School of Arts and Humanities.
The new District 5 representative will join the board as members weigh a controversial revision to the social studies curriculum. Debate has centered around the role of Judeo-Christian and Western cultures in the country's founding.
The board will also consider approving a list of required reading that includes Bible passages. Opponents argue the new list infringes on students' religious liberty, while supporters say the passages are integral to understanding the country's foundations.