Early voting is underway for the May 7 election, and three Places on the Highland Park Independent School District Board of Trustees will soon be decided. Bryce Benson is running unopposed for Place 3, while the other two races are contested: Place 4 between Tyler Beeson and Jae Ellis, and Place 5 between Ellen Lee and Spencer Siino.
While school board races in HPISD are non-partisan, The Dallas Express analyzed partisan support for candidates. Reporters surveyed hundreds of addresses within the district, comparing yard signs displayed by residents to historical participation in recent partisan primary elections by registered voters at each address.
Overall, Democratic primary voters strongly favor Jae Ellis and Ellen Lee in their respective races, while Tyler Beeson and Spencer Siino have garnered support from primarily Republicans.
Ellis, who has personally voted in every Democratic primary election since 2010, is receiving the strongest support from Democratic primary voters in either race. Of all analyzed ballots cast in Democratic primaries, a staggering 90.5% came from residences currently displaying a yard sign for Ellis.
Ellen Lee is also receiving outsized support from Democrats in the Place 5 race. Of all residences that accounted for at least one Democratic primary ballot in recent years and display a yard sign for a Place 5 candidate, 88.9% support Lee over her opponent, Spencer Siino.
On the flip side, Beeson and Siino are both receiving overwhelming support from Republicans. Among households analyzed that voted in four or more Republican primaries in recent years, Beeson yard signs outnumbered those for Ellis approximately three-to-one in the Place 4 race. By the same measure, Siino’s advantage was even larger in the Place 5 race, with his signs appearing nearly four times as often as those for Lee.
It looks like Democrats will be voting for Jae Ellis and Ellen Lee with most Republicans voting for Spencer Siino and Tyler Beeson.
Early voting concludes next Tuesday, May 3, with Election Day following on Saturday, May 7. Voting locations and additional information can be found at dallascountyvotes.org.
