'People want to have a say': Upset wins in Texas school board race seen as response to COVID-19 restrictions, critical race theory

Upset victories in two Texas school board elections has prompted discussion of the impact of national issues in local races, as well as the efforts of grassroots organization Convention of States. 

Two candidates, Kendall Baker and Bridget Wade, defeated incumbent Democratic candidates, inside of the the deep blue city of Houston, according to Blaze Media. Baker is a local pastor and defeated the trustee Holly Maria Flynn Vilaseca. Wade is a past president of a parent teacher organization and knocked off incumbent Anne Snug. Vilaseca and Snug were both Democrats from the progressive wing of the party. Convention of States workers from around the United States made an effort to promote voting in the recent Houston runoff school board elections. 

Following the elections, Wade discussed what she believed were contributing factors to her victory. 

“People want to have a say in their public education as taxpayers and parents and families," Wade told The Blaze. "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.”

Other news services discussed the importance of national issues on the election. 

“COS surveyed the candidates seeking any of five up-for-grabs board seats, quizzing them on hot-topic opinions such as critical race theory (CRT) curriculum, COVID vaccine mandates and mask requirements,” according to a report from the Houston Daily.

The answers to those key questions were emailed to COS members in the Houston area, enabling them to have a better understanding of the political positions of the board members up for election. The goal of The Convention of States wanted voters in the Houston school board runoff election to self-govern, making their decision based on quality information. Specifically, COS spread this information through emails, phone calls and texts and flyers spread door to door. This was managed by their Texas state directors Erika Hatfield and Al Torres. 

COS President Mark Meckler went into more detail when asked about the process. 

“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," Meckler said. 

National political issues including critical race theory and school mask mandates contributed a vital role in the Houston School Board elections, according to KHOU 11 News. Both Democratic and Republican candidates spent considerable time specifically discussing coronavirus policy. 

Convention of States Action (COSA) is a grassroots political organization that has over 5 million supporters in the United States. Their main goal is on promoting an Article V Convention of the States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. COSA exclusively supports amendments that mandate limits on the size and scope of the federal government.

COSA only supports amending the constitution, not calling a new constitutional convention to rewrite the entire document.