As with many things, there is a large gap between what exists on paper and what happens in the real world. The officially nonpartisan Grapevine-Colleyville ISD School Board race is one such situation.
Officially, Texas Election Code Sections 144.002 and 52.06 require candidates to be listed without party affiliation as “independent.” However, that has not stopped the partisans from selecting their preferred candidate in the race between Matt Foust and Trustee Tammy Nakaumura.
The Dallas Express reviewed the 30-day reports of both candidates and found a clear contrast between them. Foust reportedly received roughly $29,000 in donations. DX calculated that around 60% of these dollars came from Democrats, while 25% came from Republicans, and the remainder from Other (or no political affiliation), as determined by voting history, social media, previous candidate support, and/or known political activism.
Contrastingly, Nakamura received around $47,000 in campaign contributions. DX calculated that nearly all of this support came from Republicans or those supporting causes closely aligned with Republican politics. The outlet found that less than a handful of Nakamura’s supporters had voted in Democrat primaries or had unclear political inclinations.
Like the donors, some of the region’s most influential political and politically opposed organizations have lined up behind the candidates.
DX reported that the protestors who demonstrated against President Donald Trump and his advisor Elon Musk outside a Tesla building in Southlake and Dealey Plaza in Dallas have begun organizing for Foust. Some of the figures supporting Foust come from the network of Indivisible organizations in North Eastern Tarrant County that have received donations from billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation.
DX also reported that some social media activity from chapters of Indivisible in North East Tarrant County indicate an anti-religious, pro-homosexual inclination.
Material posted to social media by pro-Foust Indivisible organizers, such as Paula Edens, rarely calls Nakamura by name. Rather, the posts will call the “Patriot Mobile Candidate” or a representative of “Patriot Mobile Influence!”
State law requires that candidates not control or interact with PACs such as Patriot Mobile.
However, there is no doubt that Nakamura is Patriot Mobile’s preferred candidate.
Patriot Mobile Action’s website states, “Founded in January 2022, Patriot Mobile Action is engaging on the front lines. We are independently researching candidates and advocating on behalf of those who will stand for Christian conservative values. We are feet on the street, door-to-door, in mailboxes, on the airwaves, and in the trenches getting conservatives to vote. Patriot Mobile Action is working hard and standing for Christian conservatives’ principles.”
Adding to the contrast, there are many differences between the candidates. Foust is newer to elected politics, having not previously held office. His LinkedIn profile indicates he is a lawyer for BNSF Railway.
Nakamura was first elected in a landslide to Colleyville’s City Council in 2016. She made international headlines when she supported Mayor Richard Newton’s effort to make Colleyville the first city in the state to reopen during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was elected to GCISD’s board in 2022.
The candidates’ educational visions are also distinct. Foust’s website says he is running on “fiscal responsibility, respect for educators, and strategic vision.”
The lawyer defined the latter issue: “As a trustee, I will invest in a strategic vision that will serve all of the District’s students and their futures—whether they choose to enter the labor market, enlist in our armed forces, or obtain further education. Tradition and innovation aren’t mutually exclusive: the best way to honor our past is to adapt our legacy to the future.”
Nakamura previously described her vision for education in the district as follows: “We are going to do reading, writing, and arithmetic, and we are going to do it well and for less money [than other school districts].”
In her three years as a trustee, Nakamura says GCISD has returned phonics to elementary education, banned the mandatory use of preferred pronouns and Critical Race Theory, and established new policies that allow parents to review library materials.
GCISD passed a resolution against the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX, which would have allowed boys who claimed to be girls into female lockerrooms in 2024, DX reported. Biden’s policy was later reversed by the Trump administration after the transition of power in early 2025.
One similarity between the candidates is their mutual concern about the district’s fiscal state. In a speech earlier this year, Nakamura said that GCISD has been correcting decades of “fiscal insanity” and will soon have a balanced budget.
The outcome of the Foust-Nakamura race remains unclear. Other off-year, nonpartisan spring elections in other states have been bruising for Republicans. Wisconsin’s recent nonpartisan Supreme Court resulted in an overwhelming victory for the Democrat-backed candidate.
A few hundred votes have historically decided races in GCISD. However, Nakamura also has a history of winning by around two and a half points in the district.
Early voting in the GCISD School Board Place 3 race will be from April 22 to 29. Election day is May 3.