So, About That Election …

As election results continue to come in, here’s what you need to know today:

As we previously reported, just a bit before 10 p.m. Tuesday, incumbent Democrat Colin Allred declared victory in the 32nd Congressional District over Republican challenger Genevieve Collins.

“It has been the honor of my life to represent the 32nd District, where I was born and raised, and I am honored to continue to serve this community. The reality of what our nation faces is daunting,” Allred said in a statement. 

As of Wednesday morning, Collins hadn’t issued a statement.

Allred beat Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions to win his seat in 2018, the Dallas Morning News reports.

President Donald Trump also fended off former Vice President Joe Biden in Texas, although votes are still being tallied in several key states.

In Texas, Trump is ahead by 52.31% to Biden’s 46.27% in unofficial results as of Wednesday morning.

Democratic challenger MJ Hegar also conceded to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

“Together, we’ve worked so hard, and overcome so much, shattering expectations along the way. We’ve built a powerful grassroots movement from the ground up, and I know our fight here in Texas is far from over,” Hegar posted.

Also, as of Wednesday morning, Democratic challenger Joanna Cattanach conceded the state House District 108 race to incumbent Rep. Morgan Meyer.

“Of course this isn’t the outcome we wanted and it’s a tough pill to swallow. But we won’t despair and I urge you not to lose hope, because our movement isn’t over,” Cattanach said. “Over the course of our campaign, we pushed the conversation of this race toward the most important issues for Dallas residents, from securing funding for our public schools to expanding access to affordable health care.”

She added that she’ll announce her future plans in the coming days.

Meyer hadn’t issued a statement as of Wednesday morning.

In 2018, about 200 votes separated Cattanach from Meyer.

Texas House District 114 incumbent John Turner held on to his seat, maintaining more than 50% of the vote for most of the night. His opponent, Republican Luisa del Rosal, announced she had conceded Wednesday, saying that she had a “good conversation” with Turner that morning.

Turner thanked voters, his campaign staff, and volunteers for their efforts, and commended del Rosal on her campaign.

In Dallas ISD races, Joe Carreon bested Alicia McClung to take the District 8 seat that had been held by trustee Miguel Solis, who announced he would not seek re-election earlier this year.

In District 2, however, incumbent Dustin Marshall is headed for a runoff election – again. This is Marshall’s third election campaign, and will be his third runoff election. Challenger Nancy Rodriguez held the lead throughout the evening with around 45% of the vote to Marshall’s 40%, but that isn’t necessarily a guarantee that she’ll be able to prevail in a runoff – in 2017, Marshall upended then-challenger Lori Kirkpatrick in a runoff election 71% to 29% – after she came within 23 votes of the required 50% threshold to beat him in the general election.

“We’ve been in this situation multiple times before, and we’ve run very strong and victorious Runoff campaigns,” Marshall said in a statement. “This runoff election will be no different. It’s unfortunate that the delay of the election due to COVID put a school board race on a partisan presidential ballot where most voters have never voted in a school board race.”

Marshall said that his campaign is confident that the runoff voters will be a different animal – “the electorate is made up of voters who are incredibly engaged and knowledgeable about the amazing progress underway in DISD,” he said – and that the outcome would be different.

As of yet, Rodriguez has not issued a statement. The runoff election is slated for Dec. 8.

Four bond propositions for Dallas ISD were on the ballot, and it was a bit of a mixed bag on results. Props A and B won the support of voters, while C, D, and E did not.

But that’s not to say the package was a failure by any means. Voters were tasked with approving five different measures that addressed everything from the $1.9 billion in facilities upgrades across the entire district plus construction of 10 new facilities and the replacement of 14 campuses for $1.1 billion. Technology needs will account for $270 million, $124 million will go to athletics upgrades, and $41 million will create community service investments in four formerly segregated and redlined neighborhoods.

Those measures passed, and represented the biggest part of the $3.7 billion ask – almost all of it, in fact, at $3.54 billion.

What did voters not approve?

The extras. Propositions C, D, and E meant about $53 million in improvements and renovations to athletic stadiums, $66 million for a performing arts facility, and $33.5 million for renovations to the natatoriums.

“The passage of this historic bond is such a high note to conclude my service on the Dallas ISD board of trustees,” said Solis. “Investing in our schools to the benefit of our students and educators will pay a significant dividend, and I’m proud of Dallas for continuing to invest in public education.”

Overall, though, the Dallas Votes 4 Kids effort – which did the bulk of the campaigning for the bond package – called it a victory.

“This bond will bring critical repairs and improvements to more than 200 campuses, and we are confident that it will positively impact student outcomes,” Drex Owusu, former co-chair of the district’s bond steering committee. “But we know that a well rounded, equitable investment in our students includes fine arts and other extracurriculars that were included in the propositions that failed.”

“As the co-chair of the Citizens Bond Steering Committee, I’m incredibly thankful that the work of more than 100 Dallas community members over the past year to identify and quantify the need in our schools has received the support of voters in Dallas,” Owusu, who is also the senior vice president of education and workforce for the Dallas Regional Chamber, said. “I’m also deeply appreciative of the collective efforts of so many organizations, endorsers and trustees who tirelessly advocated for the bond’s successful passage.”

We will have more on the bond election results in our next issue of Preston Hollow People.