Nevada releases initial results from State Board of Education election

Former Clark County School Board member Danielle Ford was close to being elected to a seat on the State Board of Education, replacing current member René Cantú in District 3, and teacher Tricia Braxton appeared headed to an easy victory in District 1 over Tim Underwood, a founding member of parental rights group Moms for Liberty, according to results available Wednesday morning.

Three board seats across the state were up for grabs.

The board sets policy standards and oversees Nevada’s public education system. The 11-person board has four elected members, one from each congressional district, and seven appointed members.

In District 1, Braxton held a commanding 59.1 percent to 40.1 percent lead over Underwood, who congratulated Braxton on her win.

“My hope and prayer is she will choose to represent the working class school family,” he wrote in an email.

Braxton has a background in law enforcement and education. She ran on a platform of collaboration on the board as well as a more personalized approach for the diversity of schools in the state. She was endorsed by the Clark County Education Association as well as Clark County School Board Trustees Linda Cavazos, Ramona Esparza-Stoffregan and Brenda Zamora.

“I’m feeling optimistic in that education is a priority for many people,” Braxton said Tuesday evening. “My team, we’ve definitely put in the work. It’s been a pleasure speaking with concerned Nevadans, and having good conversations and good dialogue. I’m feeling good.”

Underwood, a frequent speaker at school board meetings, said he wanted to focus on excellence instead of cultural ideologies such as transgender and race policies, which he referred to as “indoctrinations.” His own child was transgender and died by suicide last year at the age of 37 — something Underwood blamed on the gender ideology taught in schools.

Meanwhile, in District 3, Ford was ahead of Cantú as of Wednesday morning, 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.

Ford said Tuesday evening she was self-assured of her chances.

“I’m feeling confident. I felt pretty confident the whole time. I felt like I had a lot of support,” she said. “It was a real community effort.”

Ford was a CCSD board member from 2018 until 2022, when she regularly challenged former Superintendent Jesus Jara and the trustees who voted in his favor. She was defeated by current Trustee Irene Bustamante Adams and hosts a podcast titled “Unraveling Education,” which details what she said was the corruption she saw while on the board.

In a message Tuesday evening, Cantú wrote: “It’s too close to call and too soon to tell.”

Cantú has represented District 4 since 2021, but redistricting changed his address to District 3. He said he prides himself on the board’s pressure on the Clark County School District, especially when it came to it “basically flouting” Assembly Bill 469, which provides administrators and parents with more local control.

He is also the executive director of Jobs for Nevada Graduates, and was endorsed by the CCEA for his perspective on connecting workforce development and the economy.

In District 2, Incumbent Angela Orr led her opponent Paul “Doc” Davis. Orr had 52.5 percent of the votes compared to Davis’ 47.5 percent as of Tuesday evening.

Orr has been on the board since 2023, when she was appointed by Gov. Joe Lombardo. She serves as principal of Doral Academy of Northern Nevada, a charter school in Reno.

Davis has been a professor at several Nevada schools.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X.