EPISD, SISD school board campaigns, PACs raise more than $200,000 ahead of May 3 election
by April 29, 2025
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Editor’s note, 6 p.m. April 29: This story has been updated to correct the role of Ground Game Texas with Amanecer People’s Project.
Parents, politicians and prominent business leaders throughout El Paso have poured tens of thousands of dollars into the May 3 El Paso and Socorro school board races, making it one of the most expensive trustee elections in recent years.
Candidates and some of the major political action committees supporting them have collectively raised $203,800, according to campaign finance reports filed April 25.
EPISD candidates collectively raised over $67,800 for their campaigns, while SISD candidates raised about $30,000 for theirs.
The Kids First of El Paso PAC has raised over $96,000 in donations, including $17,600 in-kind contributions for political mailers, dwarfing the size of many other contributors in the race, campaign finance reports show.
The PAC has spent over $41,500 backing Israel Irrobali, Isabel Hernandez and Monica Elena Benjamin in the EPISD election and Cindy Hernandez in an SISD race. It still has about $27,000 in unspent contributions, according to the report.
Kids First is funded by prominent El Paso business leaders, including Woody Hunt and Richard Castro, who serve on the board of directors for the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, or CREEED. The nonprofit is known for funding public school initiatives and expanding charter schools to El Paso.
“We are supporting candidates in EPISD and SISD because these are two of the largest districts responsible for educating students in our region. In EPISD, the candidates we are supporting have demonstrated a clear commitment to placing student attainment at the forefront of their efforts — and the same is true for the candidate we support in the Socorro race,” Kids First PAC Treasurer Eddie Rodriguez told El Paso Matters in an email.
A new committee funded by parents and community leaders who oppose the El Paso district’s plan to close schools, known as the Parents Protecting Schools PAC, raised just over $10,000 and took out about $5,600 in loans to fund its campaign.
That PAC’s primary contributor, Ground Game Texas, is an advocacy group that funds progressive policy campaigns and was a major supporter of the Proposition K Climate Charter, which voters rejected in the May 2023 election. The organization, which also serves as a fiduciary sponsor to Amanecer People’s Project, donated $8,600 to the Parents Protecting Schools PAC. A fiduciary sponsor offers financial management, administrative support and other services to the sponsored group.
The PAC spent roughly $11,000 supporting Leah Hanany, Jack Loveridge and Mindy Sutton and opposing Isabel Hernandez, Irrobali and Benjamin in the EPISD races.
The PAC’s treasurer Emily Davila-Flore, said its funders never expected to outraise Kids First, but felt they “owe it to our kids to challenge millionaires’ special interests on every platform.”
“We have something the Kids First PAC doesn’t: dedicated community organizers who believe in the issues we are fighting for. Our members donate hundreds of hours of their time to knock on doors and have conversations with the community about the issues that are important to them,” Davila-Flore told El Paso Matters via email.
The school board elections come at a pivotal time for both school districts.
EPISD is closing eight elementary schools in the next two years over declining enrollment under an initiative known as Destination District Redesign, or DDR. District leaders have said DDR aims to improve the remaining campuses.
SISD has started laying off an estimated 300 employees, cutting programs and increasing class sizes to attempt to cut its budget by $38 million.
Early voting ends Tuesday, April 29. Election Day is May 3. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, a runoff election will be held June 7. Early voting for the runoff will be from May 27 to June 3.
SISD
District 2
Shawn Phillip Ollis collected nearly $4,600 in political contributions, according to his most recent campaign finance reports. His largest donors include Rodrigo Fernandez, who gave $2,000; as well as Jorge Melendez, and Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS, which each gave $1,000.
Phillip Ollis has raised $8,500 for his campaign, including $3,900 reported during the last filing period.
Ryan Woodcraft reported raising $600 during the current filing period. He reported raising $4,100 during the last filing period, bringing his total raised to nearly $4,700.
All his recent contributions comprised small donations of $250 or less. He also received $650 worth of in-kind donations from Benito Casas for mail.
District 3
Joshua Carter Guerra submitted a corrected campaign finance report Monday, showing he received $1,000 from GEPAR.
SISD School board elections
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District 4
Incumbent Paul Guerra raised $1,750 during the current filing period, which included a $1,000 contribution from GEPAR. This brings the total he has raised to $3,750.
District 5
Cindy Hernandez collected $4,100 in political contributions, which included $2,500 from the Kids First PAC and $1,000 from the Texas Realtors PAC. With the $1,300 she raised during the last filing period, it brings the total she has collected to over $5,400.
She also received $3,800 in in-kind services from the Kids First PAC for mailers, campaign literature and text messaging.
Manuel “Manny” Rodriguez raised $2,100 in his most recent campaign finance report. His largest donations include $500 from the Frontera Vision PAC and multiple donations of $650 from Georgina Williams. In the last filing period, he raised $2,600, bringing his total contributions to over $4,700.
He also received $1,300 worth of in-kind donations from Alberto Rodriguez for printed material.
Gary Gandara reported that he spent over $1,500, but did not receive any donations during the current filing period. He raised $2,000, according to his previous campaign finance reports.
EPISD
District 1
Incumbent Hanany collected over $9,900 in political contributions, according to her most recent campaign finance reports. Her largest donations included $2,000 from Georgina Williams and $1,000 each from state Sen. César Blanco, Frontera Vision PAC and Texas Realtors PAC.
She received over $4,600 during the last filing period, bringing her total to over $14,500.
Benjamin reported raising $400 in small donations for the current filing period. She also received over $8,900 in in-kind donations from the Kids First PAC, including door hangers, mailers and graphic design services.
During the last filing period, she raised nearly $1,100, bringing her total donations to $1,500.
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District 3
Incumbent Loveridge raised nearly $3,100 in contributions, which included $1,000 from the Texas Realtors PAC and $500 from attorney Lynn A. Coyle. He also received over $500 in in-kind donations for food and drinks for a campaign event from Georgina Williams.
Loveridge collected nearly $17,700 during the last filing period, bringing his campaign total to nearly $20,800.
John Ponce De Leon has raised just over $4,000, according to his most recent campaign finance reports. His largest donation reported came from Nancy Bombach, who gave $1,000. Ponce De Leon also made multiple donations to his own campaign totaling about $1,900.
In total, he has raised over $5,600.
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District 4
Sutton reported raising about $1,600 in campaign contributions for the current filing period – bringing her total fundraising to about $3,200. None of her donations were above $250.
Incumbent Isabel Hernandez reported raising $300, bringing her total to $600 raised for the race.
Juan Duran reported raising $820, but did not list who gave the contributions.
District 5
Incumbent Irrobali reported raising about $11,200. He did not report any contributions for the previous filing period. His main donors were $1,000 from the Texas Realtors PAC, and about $10,000 in in-kind donations from the Kids First PAC. The in-kind services included graphic design, text messaging and door hangers.
Melvin Milton reported raising about $1,700 for the current reporting period with the largest contribution coming from consultant Kathy Thomas, who gave $1,200.
Robert Osterland donated $4,000 to his own campaign for the current filing period, bringing his total for the campaign to about $10,450. He donated $5,000 to his own campaign during the previous reporting period.
EPCC
El Paso Community College trustee candidates for District 6 Eduardo “Eddie” Mena and Diana Mooy, and District 4 Eduardo Flores reported no contributions or expenditures.
District 4 incumbent Jesus Mendez reported $1,577 in political contributions, and $9,805 in expenditures from personal funds. The largest contribution was $500. EPCC has not posted a campaign finance report for District 4 candidate Luther Marcena.
District 4 represents the Central and South parts of the college district. District 6 covers much of its Southeast portion.
Disclosure: Richard Castro, Lynn Coyle and the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development are financial supporters of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters’ journalism. The news organization’s policy on editorial independence can be found here.
