Post-election
coverage of Amarillo Independent School District 2002 Elections
2004
Amarillo Globe-News
Two first timers join AISD
board By Beth Wilson May 5, 2002
A voting system intended to help minorities get
elected primarily benefited an incumbent white man and a Hispanic
woman in the recent Amarillo Independent School District board of
trustees election.
Incumbent Jack Thompson and newcomers Janie Rivas and
Jim Austin were elected to the seven-member board in the second
election to use a cumulative voting system.
In the May 4 election, each voter had three votes to
cast in any combination.
Rivas, 46, a community volunteer, and Thompson, 69,
received more votes than the number of ballots cast in several
precincts. This indicates voters used more than one of their three
votes for these candidates.
Thompson
received 2,978 votes; Rivas had 2,458 votes and Austin got 2,335.
The other candidates were incumbent Julie Attebury, with 1,975
votes, and LaRue Hite, with 659 votes.
AISD switched to cumulative voting in 1999, and voters
elected their first black and Hispanic trustees in May 2000, the
first election to use the new process.
Cumulative voting is the compromise settled on in 1999
after the League of United Latin American Citizens, National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and three
individuals filed a lawsuit against AISD. After the May 1998 school
board elections, the groups requested the district move from
at-large positions to single-member districts, claiming the at-large
method diluted the strength of minority voters.
At least eight minority candidates had been
unsuccessful in AISD election attempts in the 12 years prior to
2000.
David Rausch, a political science professor at West
Texas A&M University, said Thompson, a community volunteer, won
the election because of cumulative voting.
"He got his three-vote message out," he said.
Several of Thompson's newspaper ads said, "He would
appreciate 1, 2 or 3 of your votes." Rausch said this type of
education on the system clearly helped Thompson get a majority of
votes.
Cumulative voting is in use in about 35 municipalities
in Texas, and it usually helps put minorities on boards, Rausch
said. The May 4 election had low turnout, 3.6 percent of registered
voters, and little information spread about cumulative voting.
"In a low information election, any information wins,"
Rausch said. "Thompson put his information out there."
Another possibility, Rausch said, is Thompson was seen
as an underdog candidate because he wasn't endorsed by the
Globe-News or Business In Our Schools, a group of businessmen who've
endorsed candidates since the 1980s.
Rausch said he'll review the ballots and study how
votes were split and if those voting for Rivas also voted for
Antonio "Tony" Renteria for Amarillo College's board of regents.
He's planning an exit poll for the 2004 election.
David Almager, a local political consultant who was
involved in bringing cumulative voting to AISD, said Rivas' election
to the board is a significant step in the cumulative voting process.
"It makes her the third minority elected to the board
under the cumulative voting system," he said. "Who would have
thought four years ago we would be electing a third minority to the
board given our history?"
The test of cumulative voting will be future
elections, Almager said.
"The true test will be its ability for minorities to
consistently elect and re-elect minorities over a longer period of
time," he said. "Will voters continue to use this? Will the
community be comfortable with the system?"
In Rausch's study of AISD's 2000 election, he
indicated endorsements by a group of business leaders might have
made more of an impact than cumulative voting.
BIOS has endorsed candidates since 1980, and never
picked a loser until May 4, said Don Curphey, one of its earliest
members.
BIOS endorsed Attebury and Austin.
Curphey said they took for granted the community's
tendency to re-elect incumbents and didn't do a good job
communicating her contributions to the board since 1998.
"The BIOS garnered the support it was expecting for
the people we identified as having a vested interest in our schools,
the business community," Curphey said. "They stood up to the bar and
made contributions, and we got a good man on the board in Jim
Austin. It was not a failure. The people who were elected are good
people. I'm disappointed about Julie but otherwise pleased with the
outcome."
Curphey said Rivas' determination and intense
campaigning was an important factor in the May 4 election.
Alphonso Vaughn, president of the local NAACP branch,
said Thompson's high numbers weren't surprising, because of his many
years of equal service to all schools.
Vaughn said he expects more minorities to try for
political office because the cumulative system has leveled the
field.
"It awakens individuals," he said. "Now we have an
opportunity to get our point across. We have now an opportunity to
seriously be looked at and be elected."
Amarillo
Globe-News Cumulative vote results
mixed May 12, 2002 By Beth Wilson
A voting system intended to help minorities get
elected primarily benefited an incumbent white man and a Hispanic
woman in the recent Amarillo Independent School District board of
trustees election.
Incumbent Jack Thompson and newcomers Janie Rivas and Jim Austin
were elected to the seven-member board in the second election to use
a cumulative voting system.
In the May 4 election, each voter had three votes to cast in any
combination.
Rivas, 46, a community volunteer, and Thompson, 69, received more
votes than the number of ballots cast in several precincts. This
indicates voters used more than one of their three votes for these
candidates.
Thompson received 2,978
votes; Rivas had 2,458 votes and Austin got 2,335. The other
candidates were incumbent Julie Attebury, with 1,975 votes, and
LaRue Hite, with 659 votes.
AISD switched to cumulative voting in 1999, and voters elected
their first black and Hispanic trustees in May 2000, the first
election to use the new process.
Cumulative voting is the compromise settled on in 1999 after the
League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People and three individuals filed a
lawsuit against AISD. After the May 1998 school board elections, the
groups requested the district move from at-large positions to
single-member districts, claiming the at-large method diluted the
strength of minority voters.
At least eight minority candidates had been unsuccessful in AISD
election attempts in the 12 years prior to 2000.
David Rausch, a political science professor at West Texas A&M
University, said Thompson, a community volunteer, won the election
because of cumulative voting.
"He got his three-vote message out," he said.
Several of Thompson's newspaper ads said, "He would appreciate 1,
2 or 3 of your votes." Rausch said this type of education on the
system clearly helped Thompson get a majority of votes.
Cumulative voting is in use in about 35 municipalities in Texas,
and it usually helps put minorities on boards, Rausch said. The May
4 election had low turnout, 3.6 percent of registered voters, and
little information spread about cumulative voting.
"In a low information election, any information wins," Rausch
said. "Thompson put his information out there."
Another possibility, Rausch said, is Thompson was seen as an
underdog candidate because he wasn't endorsed by the Globe-News or
Business In Our Schools, a group of businessmen who've endorsed
candidates since the 1980s.
Rausch said he'll review the ballots and study how votes were
split and if those voting for Rivas also voted for Antonio "Tony"
Renteria for Amarillo College's board of regents. He's planning an
exit poll for the 2004 election.
David Almager, a local political consultant who was involved in
bringing cumulative voting to AISD, said Rivas' election to the
board is a significant step in the cumulative voting process.
"It makes her the third minority elected to the board under the
cumulative voting system," he said. "Who would have thought four
years ago we would be electing a third minority to the board given
our history?"
The test of cumulative voting will be future elections, Almager
said.
"The true test will be its ability for minorities to consistently
elect and re-elect minorities over a longer period of time," he
said. "Will voters continue to use this? Will the community be
comfortable with the system?"
In Rausch's study of AISD's 2000 election, he indicated
endorsements by a group of business leaders might have made more of
an impact than cumulative voting.
BIOS has endorsed candidates since 1980, and never picked a loser
until May 4, said Don Curphey, one of its earliest members.
BIOS endorsed Attebury and Austin.
Curphey said they took for granted the community's tendency to
re-elect incumbents and didn't do a good job communicating her
contributions to the board since 1998.
"The BIOS garnered the support it was expecting for the people we
identified as having a vested interest in our schools, the business
community," Curphey said. "They stood up to the bar and made
contributions, and we got a good man on the board in Jim Austin. It
was not a failure. The people who were elected are good people. I'm
disappointed about Julie but otherwise pleased with the outcome."
Curphey said Rivas' determination and intense campaigning was an
important factor in the May 4 election.
Alphonso Vaughn, president of the local NAACP branch, said
Thompson's high numbers weren't surprising, because of his many
years of equal service to all schools.
Vaughn said he expects more minorities to try for political
office because the cumulative system has leveled the field.
"It awakens individuals," he said. "Now we have an opportunity to
get our point across. We have now an opportunity to seriously be
looked at and be elected."
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