Houston ISD school board president Paula Harris is the first incumbent to draw an opponent in the November elections.
Arturo “Art” Huerta — who, according to the board office, is a parent of a child at Lanier Middle School — has filed to run to represent District IV, which includes parts of central and south Houston. Huerta listed his occupation as a project manager. He has lived in District IV for two years and in Texas for 10.
So far, that’s all I know about Mr. Huerta. The Bellaire Examiner and the anti-Paula Harris group Educators for a Better District IV mentioned this news as well (the latter in an email), but neither of them had any further details. I’ve found at least one Arturo Huerta in Houston on Facebook, but without knowing something like his occupation I can’t say if it’s the same person. Anyone out there know anything about this guy?
Speaking of Educators for a Better District IV, they sent out another email yesterday saying that Lana Edwards will be joining the race against Harris as well. Edwards is a name I’ve heard before – she ran for District D in 2007 and finished fourth in the field of seven, garnering 11.84% of the vote. According to this Chron overview of the 2007 race, she is also the ex-wife of former State Rep. Al Edwards. I will note that the Educators for a Better District IV group had previously claimed to have an opponent for Harris lined up only to rescind that claim later, so I would not consider this a done deal until Edwards actually files.