Stonewall Democrats of El Paso's response to the May 3rd election!

For Immediate Release:

May 3rd, 2025

Contact: Wesley Lawrence, stonewalldemocratselpaso@gmail.com, 915-494-32226

Breaking: El Pasoans rebuke CREEED and its “Kids First Pac” taking EPISD back from the oligarchy— Public Schools Are no longer for sale! 

El Paso, Texas — While Republican leaders in Austin did everything they could to defund schools via their voucher programs, Democratic voters in El Paso went to the polls and sent a strong electrifying message, “ We are taking our schools back from CREEED and it’s “Kids First Pac” and returning the power back to leaders in our community who prioritize the health and wellbeing of our students and our teachers”. 

This election served as a clarion call to the El Paso Republican Party and the rogue leadership of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers (EPAFT), as a majority of their endorsed candidates faced resounding defeats.

We proudly celebrate the election of School Board Members Elect Mindy Sutton and Robert Osterland in their resounding defeats of Isabel Hernandez and Board President Israel Irrobali. It was under Irrobali and Hernandez's misguided leadership, EPISD saw the continued closures of schools in our most underserved neighborhoods, a reckless end to safety measures like the mask mandates, and millions of taxpayer dollars were handed over to contractors tied to Irrobali—actions that set EPISD ablaze in service of CREEED’s charter school agenda. We eagerly anticipate the fresh leadership of Sutton and Osterland as they work to restore integrity and accountability to our schools.

We would also like to congratulate Trustees Leah Hanany and Dr. Jack Loveridge on their resounding victories, beating back lies from not only their CREEED Supported opponents, but also from the El Paso Republican Party and the rogue leadership of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers. With pro-public school advocates now holding a majority on the board, we demand they prioritize the urgent reopening of Lamar, Rivera, Newman, Putnam, Rusk, Zavala, Stanton, and Travis elementary schools as well as looking into cutting administrative bloat in order to not have to raise taxes on working-class families.

Together our membership helped sound the call to protect public education by standing up to misinformation, calling out Republican scare tactics,  and sending out over 1,200 text messages to strong democratic voters in EPISD.  We also send a  heartfelt thank you to Project Amancer, El Paso Young Democrats, El Paso Teachers Association, and every dedicated volunteer from the Save Our Schools coalition. Together our tireless efforts have been instrumental in safeguarding EPISD from the clutches of the oligarchy!

Lastly, Stonewall Democrats of El Paso calls on Texas American Federation of Teachers to intervene in the operation of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers (EPAFT)  and call for a democratically ran election after it has been made abundantly clear that Ross Moore’s toxic reign over El Paso American Federation of Teachers must come to an end. Under Ross’s leadership a record number of school have closed in EPISD, taxpayer dollars that could have gone to teachers and students swiftly went to developers, Pro-Charter advocates were able to take over the board, and this election public education was placed on the backburner with El Paso American Federation of Teachers supporting all four charter school backed candidates. 

The time has come to reclaim our schools and ensure they serve the needs of our communities. Together, we will not back down!

A message from CD-23 Texas Democratic Committeeman and Stonewall Democrats of El Paso President Wesley Lawrence:

Today, the voters of EPISD delivered an unmistakable message: It’s time to champion public education, not allow the oligarchy to undermine it for profit at the taxpayers' expense! We call on the community to maintain this momentum in two years and decisively send Trustees Valerie Beals and Daniel Call packing. By doing so, we will ensure that CREEED’s charter school agenda is rejected once and for all in our community!

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Trustees Leah Hannany and Jack Loveridge on their powerful victories, and we warmly welcome Trustees-Elect Mindy Sutton and Robert Osterland to the EPISD School Board. Together, we look forward to forging a path toward making EPISD a safer and more inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ families. The fight for our schools is just beginning, and we are ready to stand strong!