AUSTIN, Texas – Control of the State Board of Education remained unsettled after a Houston-area race narrowed to fewer than 600 votes, leaving uncounted ballots and the possibility of a recount to determine whether Democrats win their first board majority since 1994.
Democrat Dana Van de Walker led Republican incumbent Audrey Young in District 8 with about 1% of the vote still unaccounted for when The Texas Tribune updated its report Thursday. Provisional and eligible mail ballots still had to be reviewed, and Young had not conceded.
The remaining race is decisive because results in the other districts left Democrats and Republicans with seven seats each on the 15-member board. A Walker victory would give Democrats an 8-7 majority. A Young victory would preserve an 8-7 Republican majority, although with far less room for internal disagreement than the party has had.
The results are unofficial until counties complete their canvasses and the state certifies the election. Texas law allows candidates to request recounts in close contests, but a recount does not automatically mean the original count was inaccurate.
The outcome matters to every public school district in the state. Board members adopt curriculum standards, review instructional materials, approve or veto some charter-school applications and oversee the Permanent School Fund, a multibillion-dollar endowment supporting public education.
The board is scheduled to work on new mathematics standards, social studies textbooks and charter proposals during the coming term. Its decisions can influence classroom materials well beyond Texas because publishers often develop products for the state’s large market.
Five Democrats appeared to win board races this year. Thomas Ray Garcia, Coretta Mallet-Fontenot, Allison Bush and Michelle Palmer won open or contested seats, while Democratic incumbent Tiffany Clark won reelection, according to preliminary results.
Republican newcomers Kason Huddleston and Mindy Bumgarner won their races, as did incumbent Julie Pickren. Young, the incumbent in the unresolved District 8 contest, has frequently voted with Pickren on closely watched curriculum questions.
The Rio Grande Valley played a direct role in the shift. Garcia won the district that includes the Valley by a wide margin after Republican incumbent LJ Francis lost in the March primary. Francis had narrowly captured the historically competitive district in 2022.
Many Democratic candidates ran with experience as teachers or school trustees and criticized the board’s recent emphasis on religion, culture and partisan disputes. Conservative groups supported Republican candidates who defended the board’s changes and argued that parents wanted a stronger role in curriculum decisions.
Recent board votes included revisions to social studies standards, required Bible readings and debates over how slavery, Islam, climate change and Native studies should be presented. Members also confronted errors in state-developed Bluebonnet Learning materials and disputes over charter schools and vouchers.
Even if Republicans retain the deciding seat, the smaller majority would require near-unanimity on contested votes. Republican member Pam Little has sometimes broken with the board’s conservative bloc, making bipartisan coalitions more important.
Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa will also influence education policy through appointments and her legislative agenda. She has said she plans to replace Education Commissioner Mike Morath, though the State Board of Education has its own constitutional and statutory authority separate from the governor.
Source: The Texas Tribune, first published Nov. 4, 2026, and updated Nov. 5. Election figures were preliminary at publication.
