Katy Votes: Two New Katy ISD Board of Trustees Elected, Nehls Wins Congressional Seat

KATY MAGAZINE NEWS

November 4, 2020

By Natalie Cook Clark

Although votes were still being counted in the race for President of the United States, Katyites went to bed knowing some key victories: two seats on the Katy ISD Board of Trustees, and key congressional seats for both Federal and State.

Ted Heap, Troy Nehls, and Chad Norvell all won their elections.

Katy ISD Elects Two New Board Members

It was a big night for Katy ISD, which delayed their school board election from May to this month because of the pandemic. Three seats were up for election and the Board got two new members.

Incumbent Ashley Diehl Vann ran unopposed for position 3 and will resume her work on the Board. Longtime board member Bill Lacy lost his race for re-election to newcomer, Greg Schulte.

Meanwhile, two new faces dueled for the position 4 seat. Michael Dillard lost in the race against Leah Wilson.

“Thank you to all my supporters and everyone who voted,” Leah Wilson told Katy Magazine. “It has been a very long 9 months to get to this day, but it has been filled with amazing stories, new friends, and hard work by many. My heart is full and I look forward to the real work beginning.”

Nehls Victorious Over Kulkarni

A big local election that turned heated with national attention was the race for U.S. Congressional District 22 between Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni and longtime Fort Bend County Sheriff, Republican Troy Nehls. Nehls pulled out a victory with 51% over 44%.

“This was truly a great win,” says Nehls. “I look forward to representing our district in Congress and keeping my promise to be our voice.”

Trevor Nehls lost his bid to replace his twin brother Troy, as Fort Bend County Sheriff. Eric Fagen will serve as the county’s new sheriff as Troy Nehls heads to Washington.

Cornyn Keeps Senate Seat

Longtime Republican Texas Senator John Cornyn campaigned early and it paid off as he held his seat against Democrat M.J. Hegar.

Hegar offered the first statement of concession of election night.

Katy City Council

The Katy City Council keeps one member and gains a new face. Janet Corte secured her re-election for Ward A with 56.84% of the votes while Rory Robertson unseated incumbent Durran Dowdle with 51.6 % of the vote.

Other Notable Races

Democrat Lizzie Fletcher won her re-election campaign for Texas District 7 over newcomer Republican Wesley Hunt.

Republican Dan Crenshaw won strong in his Texas District 2 seat.

Texas’ District 28 stayed with Republican Gary Gates despite Democrat Dr. Eliz Markowitz’s heavy campaign helped frequently by Beto O’Rourke.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez won a second term over Joe Danna.

Constable Ted Heap will continue to head Harris County, Precinct 5.

Major Chad Norvell was elected the new Fort Bend County Constable, Precinct 3.

Counting Continues for President

Americans continue to watch the results as they come in for the presidential race. Additional time to count votes was expected due to the surge of mail-in votes because of the pandemic.

President Donald J. Trump won the historically red state of Texas with 52%. Locally, he lost to former Vice President Joe Biden in Harris and Fort Bend counties. Harris County broke voting records by reaching over 1.5 million voters on Tuesday. Such numbers have not been reached in the county since 1992.

Fort Bend County broke records in early voting, earning the highest early-voting numbers in the state with close to 68% of registered voters voting early.