Ballot Math / School districts / Cartwright Elementary
School board race and measure: Cartwright Elementary School District

Cartwright Elementary: a 22-year board member, a former member returning, and an override renewal

November 3, 2026 general election. Cartwright Elementary School District No. 83 serves the Maryvale area of west Phoenix. Four candidates are running for two board seats, including a state legislator who has sat on this board for two decades and a former board member seeking to return. The district also asks to renew its 15 percent operating override.
How this race works: two of the board's five seats are up, both for four-year terms. Four candidates are on the ballot; vote for up to two and the top two win. Board service is unpaid. Two of the candidates, Hernandez and Paredes, have campaigned together.

Lydia Hernandez (incumbent)

On this board since 2004, more than two decades. She earned a degree in political science and government at Baylor University and was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2022; she lost her re-election campaign in the July 2026 primaries. Her daughter, Cassandra Hernandez, served on this board alongside her from 2024 until stepping down in 2026.
  • Ballot fight, per the Republic: she was briefly removed from this ballot after a legal battle, and a judge ruled she could remain on it after her daughter stepped down from the board.
  • Stated priorities: fiscal responsibility and school safety.

Teresa Tapia (incumbent, appointed)

Appointed to the board on September 16, 2026 by County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs, weeks before this election, and now running to keep the seat. She is a lifelong Maryvale resident with more than 20 years of experience in patient care, small business ownership, and community service, and she has stayed engaged in district events since first running for the board in 2024.

Marissa Hernandez

She previously served on this board from 2015 to 2024, so she is a former member seeking to return rather than a newcomer. She is campaigning with Pedro Paredes. (No relation to Lydia Hernandez is stated in the sources; the shared surname is common in this district.)
  • Record and stated priorities: as a board member she advocated for special needs students, pushing to expand autism support services and staff training across the district, and backed energy-saving initiatives.

Pedro Paredes

Campaigning with Marissa Hernandez. Public information about him beyond his campaign posts is thin.
  • Stated priorities (his social media posts, per the Republic): student achievement and building partnerships between the school district and the community.

The override: a 15 percent maintenance and operations renewal

In one sentence: Cartwright Elementary may keep exceeding its state operating budget limit by 15 percent for seven more years, raising an estimated $14,110,701 in the first year (fiscal 2027/28) at an estimated tax rate of $3.55 per $100 of net assessed value, approximately the current rate.

The override pays for operations, not buildings. If it is not renewed, it phases down over its final years and ends, and the operating budget falls by roughly that amount.

The math for your household

About $295 a year for the average homeowner

That is the Arizona Republic's figure for the average Cartwright homeowner. The rate looks startling compared to suburban districts ($3.55 per $100 of assessed value would be about $887 a year on a home with $25,000 of net assessed value), but Maryvale assessed values are low, which is exactly why the rate is high and the average bill is not: rates and assessed values move in opposite directions. Because this is a renewal, a yes keeps roughly the current amount in place; a no removes it gradually.

A YES vote

The 15 percent override continues for seven years at about the current rate, funding operations including the special needs and support services this district emphasizes.

A NO vote

The override phases down and expires, and the district cuts or absorbs about $14 million a year of operating budget.

The strongest case for YES

  • High-need district, low tax base. Supporters argue Cartwright's students need more support services than the state formula funds, and the override is the only local tool; the average bill stays what it already is.

The strongest case for NO

  • Twenty-two years is long enough to ask for results. Opponents generally argue renewals in districts with long-tenured boards should come with demonstrated outcomes, and the renewal vote is the one moment voters can require that accounting.

Verification notes

  • School board campaigns file finance reports with Maricopa County. No raised or spent totals for these campaigns appeared in the coverage we reviewed; we print no totals rather than guess.
  • The Republic's October 2, 2026 guide says "one incumbent" in its Cartwright summary count while labeling both Lydia Hernandez and (appointed) Teresa Tapia as incumbents in its candidate sections; we follow the candidate sections.
  • No proposition number for the Cartwright override was found in the district or county sources we checked.

How to vote without getting your ballot rejected

  • Mail it by Tuesday, October 27, 2026. After that day, do not mail it: use a drop box or a vote center instead.
  • It must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. Postmarks do not count.
  • Sign and date the affidavit envelope, and write a current phone number on it.
  • Leaving any item blank is allowed. The board race and the override are separate items; answer either, both, or none.

Sources

Ballot Math: analysis only, no endorsements. Every candidate in this race got the same template: background, stated priorities, the record that exists, and honest notes where the record is thin.