COLLEGE STATION, Texas — College Station voters handed the school board president a lopsided defeat Tuesday, choosing challenger Michelle Gallagher for the Place 6 trustee seat in College Station ISD, while keeping the board’s vice president in her seat.
Gallagher, who owns a business, collected 22,153 votes, or 72.4%, in updated unofficial Brazos County returns. Incumbent Kim Ege, the board president, finished with 8,459 votes, or 27.6%.
In Place 7, Vice President Heather Simmen won another term with 16,104 votes, or 54.5%, over Karen Strope, a marketing executive who challenged her.
Gallagher held a wide lead from the first early voting count onward, and Simmen led throughout the night as well, so the final returns only widened the gaps that showed up in the opening numbers.
The seven-member board sets policy and oversees the finances and operations of the district, and trustees serve three-year terms. Only Places 6 and 7 were up for a vote on this year’s November ballot.
Next door in Bryan ISD, voters chose Chris Cartwright over David Sessum for the District 2 trustee seat left open by Julie Harlin-Wolf, and they rejected that district’s request for a 2-cent maintenance and operations tax increase, which would have funded staff and teacher raises.
Turnout across Brazos County was strong heading into Election Day, with 56,826 voters casting ballots during early voting from Oct. 19 to Oct. 30. The district plans to canvass its results Nov. 16, and the numbers stay unofficial until that happens.
Filed under: College Station TX Politics News
