Five Austin ISD trustee positions will be up for election on the Nov. 3 ballot in Travis County to represent districts 1, 4, 6, and 7 across Austin, and the at-large position 9.
Those five seats are currently held by Candace Hunter (1), Kathryn Whitley Chu (4), Andrew Gonzales (6), David Kauffman (7), and Arati Singh (9).
Out of those five trustees, only Hunter has filed for reelection to stay on the board. Campaign filing for the AISD school board opened July 20 and closes on Aug. 17.
As of Aug. 10, Cheryl Bradley has filed to challenge Hunter. In District 4, the current candidates are Edward Bradfield, Tricia Mitchell Kim, and Jessica Neufeld. In District 7, Laurie Solis of the Austin Council of PTAs has filed. In District 9, Brian Peña and Pamela Mathai have filed.
Bradley is a former AISD trustee for District 1 who served multiple terms through 2014. Bradfield was the Lamar Middle School PTA president last school year, and Neufeld the Lamar PTA’s advocacy chair. Kim is a former AISD parent and AISD student, per Kim’s website. Peña has experience with the local education nonprofit Austin Voices and as a legislative staffer, according to Peña’s website.
Even if AISD faces state takeover, trustee elections would still occur, per TEA. When Morath announced Fort Worth ISD’s takeover, he also directed trustee elections to continue during the tenure of the appointed board of managers, as the elected board would remain in place to reassume power when the district returns to local control.
At a moment when AISD faces risk of state intervention, Ken Zarifis, president of AISD’s union Education Austin, believes Austinites need to elect trustees who are willing to go to bat for their communities.
“I’ll be honest – I hope that the new board is similar to the current board,” Zarifis said. “The current board is in a situation where the state is controlling what they’re doing to a great deal, and it’s hard. But this board was willing to ask questions, was willing to stand up.”
“Our elected board is what makes us an independent school district,” Zarifis reminded us. “I want to keep this board a voice of the community.”
Editor’s note: We originally stated that Tricia Mitchell Kim is a parent of current AISD students. She is a parent of former AISD students. The Chronicle regrets the error.
This article appears in August 14 • 2026.
