Mansfield ISD voters remade their school board in the May 3 election, giving challengers strong leads over incumbents, including the board president and secretary, in all three races on the ballot.
School district residents cast ballots after an election season that’s seen heightened outside political involvement and debates about the role of partisanship in local government.
Incumbents in Mansfield ISD banded together throughout their campaigns, holding shared events and forums that emphasized recent achievements and improvements in the district.
They were backed by Republican politicians and conservative political action committees, including Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare, and Tarrant County-based conservative activist groups True Texas Project and Keep Tarrant Red. All three also received $1,000 from the Texas Realtors PAC.
May 3, 2025, elections
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Challengers formed similar ties with one another. Each candidate argues that the district’s current school board needs change, less division and fresh collaboration.
They were backed by nonpartisan organizations, progressive PACs and both Republican- and Democratic-leaning community leaders. They were all endorsed by the MISD Future PAC and Texans Defending Democracy, a nonprofit organization for civic engagement that publicly opposes many Republican-led education initiatives in the Texas Legislature.
The winners will head into the school board as districts across Texas face looming budget shortfalls and ongoing debates over school vouchers and curriculum
The school board has seven at-large members. That means voters across the entire school district vote for the trustees, who serve staggered three-year terms.
Place 4:
Challenger Ana-Alicia Horn, who works in data management for an event ticketing software company, pulled ahead of incumbent Keziah Valdes Farrar, a Realtor and current board president who has held the seat since winning it in 2021.
Horn carried 60.3% of 12,356 votes reported in the race.
In fundraising, Horn trails slightly behind Valdes Farrar, reportedly raising $7,189 to the incumbent’s $7,880, according to campaign finance reports. However, Horn has spent more on her campaign, reporting $7,455 in expenditures to Valdes Farrar’s $6,048.
Place 3:
In the race for Place 3, Jason Thomas, director of road and bridge operations for southeast Tarrant County’s Precinct 2, beat incumbent Craig Tipping, a physical therapist and roofing sales executive who held the seat for one term.
Thomas carried 58.02% of the 12,269 votes reported.
Thomas poured significantly more money into his campaign than Tipping, reportedly spending $13,208 — over three times the incumbent’s $4,082.
Names who have contributed to Thomas’ fundraising total of $14,923 include Alisa Simmons, the Democrat representing Precinct 2 on the county commissioners court, and Ebony Turner, an attorney and Democrat who challenged Republican David Cook for his Texas House seat in 2024.
Place 5:
Challenger Jesse Cannon II, who works as director of visual and performing arts in Fort Worth ISD, pulled ahead of incumbent Bianca Benavides Anderson, a sales consultant who has held her seat for one term.
Cannon carries 58.6% of the 12,163 votes.
As in the race for Place 3, the challenger raised and spent considerably more in his bid for election than the incumbent. Cannon has received $9,866 in donations to Benavides Anderson’s $2,145, and he has spent $9,108 to her $2,183.
Drew Shaw is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected] or @shawlings601.
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