'People want to be heard': Baker, Wade defeat Democrats in Houston School Board runoff

A pair of candidates running for the Houston Independent School District board came away victorious in a runoff election last week.

Blaze Media reported that local pastor Kendall Baker and former PTO president Bridget Wade defeated incumbent progressive Democrats. According to KHOU 11, contentious political issues like critical race theory and school mask mandates were main drivers in the Houston elections, and Houston Daily reported that Convention of States activists across the nation encouraged Houston residents to vote.

“People want to have a say in their public education as taxpayers and parents and families," Wade told the Houston Chronicle. "People want to be active participants and be heard, and so I think it was people crying out to be heard. That was the foundation from which everything came.”

According to Jonathan Viaud, Texas regional director of Convention of States Action, a candidate survey was conducted for the first time by his organization and he added that this will not be the last time conservatives surpass progressive hopefuls. He explained that candidates were contacted and asked about critical race theory, vaccine mandates and transgender policies. After receiving responses, activists nationwide made phone calls to potential voters using an app created by the organization. He said more than 16,000 calls were made, as well as 68,000 text messages. Activists also handed out flyers with the survey results.

“Convention of States has been deeply troubled by the increasing politicization of schools across the country,” Viaud said. “Since the Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in the state, and the seventh-largest in the country, we felt the December runoff election could have an impact on future school board elections across the country. Therefore, this was an opportunity for us to get involved at this level for the first time in a major election, and we were happy to provide voters with vital information on where candidates stood on important issues before they voted.”

In the Houston Daily report, Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States, said the organization’s goal is to allow Houston residents to self-govern and make well-informed decisions. He said the process “starts with fundamentally being able to be educated on who you're voting for, and so we just wanted to help provide the information to folks so they could decide for themselves based on sufficient information to cast their votes.”

The Convention of States is seeking to amend the U.S. Constitution and is calling for an "Article V Convention of States to make proposals that limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, impose fiscal restraints, and place term limits on federal officials. Once two-thirds (34) of the states pass our resolution, the convention will be called."

According to the Convention of States website, the organization’s resolution has been passed in 15 states. It adds that it works for an amending convention rather than a constitutional convention, which would essentially create a new constitution. Amending conventions offer particular amendments, which must be ratified by 38 states before becoming part of the Constitution.