Austin voters elect LaRessa Quintana to school board; at-large race going to runoff

LaRessa Quintana was elected as the new District 2 representative for the Austin school district, while two candidates for the District 8 at-large seat will head into a runoff.

Fernando Lucas de Urioste and Lindsey Stringer will face off in a run-off to represent the at-large district, which represents all of the school district, after whittling down a six-person field of contenders vying to replace Trustee Noelita Lugo, who is stepping down.

De Urioste was the top vote-getter with almost 32.5% of the 200,412 votes cast, according to complete but unofficial results. De Urioste is the director of advocate services at Cirkiel Law Group, an advocacy firm that represents students, especially those receiving special education services.

Stringer slid into the runoff with almost 26% of the votes, beating Amy Moore, who had 23.7% of the votes.

In the Austin school district, a candidate must receive at least 50% of the votes to win or the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff election.

Stringer is a former teacher and is vice president of technology and business operations at the National Math and Science Initiative, a nonprofit aimed at improving student performance in science, math and technology fields.

Moore is also a former teacher who is a former program manager with Austin Partners in Education, a nonprofit that provides college and career readiness programs through mentorship.

De Urioste, Stringer and Moore easily outpaced contenders Dylan "Sky" MacAdams, Nathaniel Hellman and Nick Franke, who got 8.7%, 5.7% and 3.6% of the votes, respectively.

In District 2, Quintana, an Austin school district graduate who works for Texas Trial Lawyers Associates, will replace outgoing Trustee Ofelia Zapata, who is stepping down.

Quinta secured 60.9% of the 20,479 votes, beating contender Sarah Ivory, a former teacher who now works for Texas Education THRIVE, a University of Texas program that provides education professional development support to school districts.

Incumbent Trustees Lynn Boswell and Kevin Foster ran unopposed.