Photo by Liesbeth Powers.

Richardson ISD has a new trustee after Saturday’s election, and voters will return to the polls to elect a second new trustee by runoff election.

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Chris Poteet earned the most votes in the at-large race with 6,358 (36%), and Amanda Clair ran second with 4,818 (27%). They’ll be on the ballot June 5. Blake Sawyer was third with 2,439 (14%) and Nicole Foster came in fourth with 2,186 (12%) in the 7-person race.

Megan Timme was elected to represent single member District 1 surrounding Pearce High School. Although she had two opponents in the race, her 3,973 votes (58%) were enough for a victory.

The $750 million RISD bond proposals passed with 63% of the vote.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam McGough easily won his fourth and final consecutive term on the council, earning 91% (9,815) of the vote. Dallas councilmembers are term-limited, and McGough hasn’t yet shared what he has planned two years from now. Proposition A and B to expand eligibility for folks serving on city boards and commissions failed.

The runoff will test both candidates’ abilities to mobilize their volunteers and boost turn out. Poteet won the Lake Highlands vote, which made up about 30% of the total in RISD based on precincts and voting locations tied to the LH feeder pattern. Voters here will have just one item on the ballot, but in Richardson, an additional runoff for at-large councilman will draw voters to the polls. That could give Clair, an educational consultant with 3 children who lives in the Richardson feeder pattern, an advantage over Poteet, an engineer with kids at Moss Haven and Forest Meadow in Lake Highlands.

So far, both candidates have kept their campaigning exceedingly positive and focused on what they’ll do to improve outcomes for students and teachers. Clair recently served on RISD’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee, and Poteet served on the district’s 2021 bond committee, and each has a long list of additional service to the community and to neighborhood schools.

“I’m proud of how the election turned out,” Clair told me Sunday. “We have a phenomenal field of 7 candidates who were focused on achieving positive outcomes for RISD. We’ve got 5 weeks till the runoff election, so we’ll be sprinting, I’m sure. We’ll continue on focusing to connect with voters on our priorities and getting them out to vote.”

“I’m excited with our performance through early voting and Election Day,” agreed Poteet. “Earning the decisive plurality is commendable, but I look forward to expanding that in the runoff. I value my continued and consistent support in Lake Highlands, but also am energized by the support in North Dallas and the City of Richardson. I’ve worked hard to build that and will focus on continuing to earn the trust of the entire RISD community.”

This afternoon, a reception will be held for retiring trustees Kim Caston and Jean Bono. Each has a long history of dedicated service on the board and in years before her election, and their impact will be felt for decades on the lives of students and teachers in RISD. The reception will be held at 4:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Academy, 410 S. Greenville.