This year’s school district and college district elections in Amarillo will have a number of challengers on the ballot seeking to oust incumbent officeholders.

First, for the Amarillo College Board of Regents election, incumbents Jay Barrett and Michele Fortunato are seeking re-election, while incumbent Sally Lampe Jennings is not running for a second term. With Jennings out of the picture, several challengers have stepped up in the hopes of claiming either her seat or a seat held by one of the two incumbents seeking re-election. The challengers this year include certified knife sharpener Mike Yazbek, high school teacher and former Republican congressional candidate Jason Foglesong, retired Amarillo College advisor Irene Hughes, Square Mile Community Development director Brady Clark, and Amarillo Area Foundation major gifts officer Stephanie Pena.

In the race for seats on the Amarillo ISD Board of Trustees, incumbents Kimberly Anderson and Dick Ford are seeking re-election, with a number of hopefuls running to claim the seat being vacated by incumbent Alonzo Everhart. Retired newspaper columnist Jon Mark Beilue, attorney Ryan Brown, conservative activist Connie Brown, business owner Steve Trafton, and former high school science teacher Robin Leeah are also running.

Meanwhile, Canyon ISD will also see a number of contested school board races this year. Place 1 incumbent Paul Blake is running unopposed for re-election. For Place 2, incumbent Katharyn Weigand and Jodi Davis are running, while Laurie Gilliland, Derrick Thomas, and Tiffany Rogers are running for Place 7. In the Place 3 special election for an unexpired term, Casey Posey, Jared Wirt, Claudia Burkett, and Josh Grisham are running.

These races will be decided on May 6.

Thomas Warren

Thomas Warren, III is the editor-in-chief of the Amarillo Pioneer newspaper in Amarillo, Texas.

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