May 7 Election Results

Voters in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow neighborhoods headed to the polls Saturday for elections including for two Highland Park ISD board of trustee seats and Dallas College trustee seats.

After vote totals results rolled in into the early hours of Sunday morning, district volunteer Ellen Lee led insurance executive Spencer Siino in the place 5 seat on the Highland Park ISD board of trustees with 59% of the vote (4,825 votes) in unofficial results to Siino’s 41% (3,378 votes). In place 4, Incumbent Jae Ellis, who was first elected to the board in 2019, faced a close race to re-election, leading challenger Tyler Beeson, who works in wealth management, with 51% of the vote (4,174 votes) to Beeson’s 49% (4,033 votes) in unofficial results.

Place 3 trustee Bryce Benson ran unopposed. The votes in the school board election will be canvassed at the May 17 school board meeting, per Highland Park ISD Chief of Staff Jon Dahlander.

“I want to thank every one of the 8,200+ people who voted in the HPISD school board election,” Ellis said of the election results. “What we all have in common — we all want excellent education for every student — is much greater than anything that might divide us, and we are blessed to live in a community where so many people are so passionate about our public schools. Running for public office is not easy, and I am thankful for everybody who took the courageous step of running in contested elections: Tyler Beeson, Spencer Siino, and Ellen Lee.” “I am honored to have the opportunity to serve our community as HPISD Trustee for the next three years. This is an important time in public education. Wisdom and discernment will be essential to provide academic excellence consistent with our community’s values and traditions,” Lee said. “This year’s high voter turnout and community feedback has made it clear our families want transparency and accountability for classroom content and student outcomes.”

To read more of our coverage of the Highland Park ISD board of trustees elections, click here.

In the Dallas College trustee elections, the district 1 race is headed for a runoff after incumbent Gretchen Williams, a realtor whose district covers North Dallas and Lake Highlands, trailed her challengers with 32% of the vote (5,261 votes) to Catalina Garcia’s 36% (5,919 votes), and Lynn Davenport’s 32% (5,294 votes). Garcia is a retired anesthesiologist and Davenport is a former recruiter.

In district 2, incumbent Phil Ritter, whose district covers parts of the Park Cities as well as Irving and Coppell, led challenger Eugene Robinson with 66% of the vote (10,916 votes) to Robinson’s 34% (5,520 votes).

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect that the canvassing of the votes in the school board election will be May 17.)