Snyder: Local candidates backed by state Democrats show mixed results

Mike Floyd, 18, won a seat on the Pearland school board with the backing of the Texas Democratic Party. Mike Floyd, 18, won a seat on the Pearland school board with the backing of the Texas Democratic Party. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Snyder: Local candidates backed by state Democrats show mixed results 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

The Texas Democratic Party's foray into local, ostensibly nonpartisan elections yielded mixed results in Houston-area municipal and school board races on Saturday.

The party's biggest win, at least in terms of the attention it drew, was 18-year-old high school senior Mike Floyd's triumph over incumbent Rusty DeBorde for a seat on the Pearland school board. That race was the topic of a front-page story by the Chronicle's Shelby Webb, and of my latest Greater Houston column.

In other Pearland races, the party-backed candidate for mayor, Quentin Wiltz, forced longtime incumbent Tom Reid into a June runoff. But attorney J. Darnell Jones, supported by the Democrats, failed in his challenge to Councilman Gary Moore.

The Democrats had little success in Pasadena, where the city elections drew widespread attention because of a federal judge's ruling that a fairly new City Council system pushed by Mayor Johnny Isbell was discriminatory. Isbell cannot run again due to term limits, and the Democratic Party didn't endorse any of the seven candidates seeking to replace him. Retired police officer Jeff Wagner and community college trustee John Moon Jr. will compete in a runoff for mayor.

Two party-backed candidates in Pasadena City Council races, Oscar del Toro and Steve Halvorson, lost to incumbents Cary Bass and Don Leamon, respectively. (Halvorson fell short by nine votes, 407-398, according to unofficial returns. Bass prevailed by a wide margin.)

Party-backed candidate Felipe Villarreal finished second in another Pasadena council race and will face Daniel Vela in a runoff.

Two Humble school board candidates supported by the party, Abby Whitmire and Chris Herron, lost to incumbents Angela Cunningham and Charles Conrad, respectively. That campaign drew the attention of the right-wing website Breitbart News ("Leftists Target Texas School Board Election.")

In Galveston County, Nakisha Paul, backed by the Democrats, won a seat on the Texas City school district board. But party-supported candidate Arnetta Henderson lost her bid for a spot on the College of the Mainland board.

Across the state, candidates supported by the Democratic Party in contested races won seven campaigns outright, mostly in suburban communities such as Round Rock and Arlington in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a congratulatory statement from the party. Six additional candidates earned spots in runoffs.

The Texas Republican Party says it does not recruit or endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.